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CAPT. BENJAMIN J. WILLARD. 



CAPTAIN BEN'S BOOK 



A RECORD OF THE THINOS WHICH HAPPENED TO 



Capt. Benjamin J. Willard, 



PILOT ilNI) STEVEDORE 



DURING SOMR SIXTY YEARS ON SEA AND EAND, 



AS RELATED BY HIMSELF. 



AUG 6 il895 



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OF Wk'i^^'^ 



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'OH / 

PORTLAND, ME.: Cb^ 

Lakeside Press, Engravers, Printers, and Binders. 
1895- 



r?0 



Copyright, 1895, dy Capt. B. J. Willard, ' 
Portland, Maine. 



DEDICATION. 



'HpO the ship-masters, merchants, and ship-brokers 
whose patronage, during forty-one years, has made 
possible the eniplo3nnent and the experience recorded 
in these pages, I gratefully dedicate ni}^ book. 

B. J. WiLLARD. 



PREFACE. 



T HAVE been asked many times to tell ni}' stor}^, 
and have at last concluded to do so. It is the 
"plain, unvarnished tale" of a man who has passed 
his life on and along the stormv Atlantic coast, some- 
time on sea and sometime on shore, and who has met 
the perils incident to the experience of a sailor and a 
pilot. Most people of English blood, whether inland 
bred or brought up within the sound of the waves, 
take pleasure in tales of the sea, however homely 
they may be told; and for them my book is written. 
That the}' may find the same enjoyment in reading 
that I have had in writing it, is the earnest hope of 

Benjamin J. Wiij.ard. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



15 



23 



CHAPTER I. 

Cradled in a Boat-ExrUest Recollections ^ Catching the First 
Shark -A Mammoth Cod -My Trip to the Georges Bank 
and How I Lost My Black Stockings -The Hampton Boat 
and the White Head Boiling Springs -Lobster Catching 
Fifty Years Ago, .••••■'■ 

CHAPTER n. 

The Harbor in a Fog-Old Time Hospitality on the Cape-My 

First Chew of Tobacco-An Ancient School-House-How 

Fishermen Came To Use Compasses-The Harm Done to 

Hook Fishing by Seines and Seals, . • ■ ■ ■ 

CHAPTER HL 

The Loss of the Pleasure Boat "Leo" in Casco Bay- Death by 
Uownino- of a Woman and Eight Children- Living on 
Crackei'crumbs in the Bay of Fundy- Whimsical Advent- 
ure near Biddeford Pool-A Perilous Passage from Phila- 
delphia to Portland, .•■•■■' 

CHAPTER IV. 
In Which 1 Become a Ship-Owner-The Great April Gale of 
18,1 -Riding It Out in Little Egg Harbor-The Race from 
Philadelphia to Portland-Forsaking Sea for Land Service, 36 

CHAPTER V. 
In Which I Become a Stevedore and Subsequently a Pilot - 
Taking the Allan Steamships into Port-Piloting a Bonded 
Vessel and the Trouble It Brought- How I Was Unjustly 
Put in Jail, and My Experiences There-An Appeal for 
I ono-Delayed justice-Some Amusing Experiences, . • 4^ 



29 



lO CAPTAIN BP:n\S BOOK. 

CHAPTER VI. 

In Which a Sword-Fish is Harpooned — It Proves a Novelty in 
Portland — How I Piloted a Disabled Steamer into Port — 
The Perilous Experience of a Pilot — Pulling Drowning 
Men out of the Water — A Famous Camping-Out Club — 
Hen Hawks for Dinner — The Father of the Finnan Haddie 
Industry and His Skill at ()uoits. . . . . -57 

CHAPTER VII. 

Portland Harbor in War Time — Much Tangled Red Tape — 
Rushing Associated Press News to the Shore — Perilous 
Experience of a Coast Pilot — The Close Shave of the Anglo 
Saxon — Sudden Death of my Father, . . . • <j7 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Capture of the "Caleb Cushing" and the "Archer" by Confeder- 
ate Privateers — The Bold Attempt in Portland Harbor — A 
Day of Excitement in the City — Soldiers and Citizens to 
the Rescue — Blowing up of the " Cushing " and Recapture of 
the "Archer" — Confederate Prisoners in Fort Preble — How 
Daniel Gould Came to His Death. . . . . ■ ', 4 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Confederate Account of the Capture of the " Caleb Cushing" 

— Mr. Hunt's Vivacious Story — How the Privateers Stole 
into the Harbor, Stole Out, and Were Caught with the 
Goods in Their Possession — The Fish Chowder on Board 
the "Archer," and the Humble Pie the Privateers After- 
wards Ate, ......... 82 

CHAPTER X. 

The Wreck of the Bohemian — Scenes and Incidents of that 
Memorable Disaster — How the lU-Fated Steamer Went 
Ashore — A Notable Campaign Orator among the Survivors 

— Fishing Up Cases of Goods — Mr. Farmer, Captain 
Sargent, and the Cook Stove — The Diver \\'ho Took a Nap 

at the Bottom of the Sea, . . . . . • ^^7 



TABLE OP CONTENTS. II 

CHAPTER XI. 

Deep-Sea Fishing — The Nervous Man and His Gun — Captur- 
ing a Dusky Shark — The Adventure of the Scotchman and 
the Whale — My Trained Pets, the Coach Dog and the 
Cedar Bird, ......... 95 

CHAPTER XH. 

A Whale in the Harbor — The Seven-Ton Blackfish — How a 
Hayseed Spoiled His Linen Trowsers — Appearance and 
Habits of the Blackfish — A Lively Fight with a Sword- 
Fish — The Summer of 1S67, . . . . . .110 

CHAPTER Xin. 

In Which All Manner of Fish is Sought, from Sea Serpent to 
Mackerel — A Fight Between a Sword-Fish and Two Killers 
— St. Elmo's Fire — The Race Between the "Nettle" and 
"Sparkle" — A Famous Trouting Party on Mount Desert — 
Concerning Water-Spouts — Hunting Eider Ducks — Doctor 
Bowles and the White-Tailed Martin — The Beginning of the 
Sword-Fish Industry, . . . . . . .118 

CHAPTER XIV. 

A Cruise for the Sea Serpent — Distinguished Jurists and Clerg)-- 
men Hunting the Whale — Lots of Fun but No Fish — A 
Colored Cook Who Turned White — Collecting Ship News 
for the Daily Papers — Rescue of a (running Party on Half 
Way Rock — C'aptain Senter and the "Sparkle," . . i2g 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Peabody Obsequies — Arrival of the " Monarch " off Portland 
and Severe Trip of the Pilot Boat in Search of Her. The 
Impressive Naval Procession up the Harbor. — Admiral 
Farragut and the "Terror" — Another Great Naval Pageant 
— The Duke of Newcastle's Hat, . . . . .136 

CHAPTER XVI. 

I Become an Inventor and Patent a Life Preserver — Another 
Fruitless Search for the Sea Serpent — A Funny Fourth of 



12 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

July in Portland — How the Hand-Organs played in Lincoln 
Park — An Earnest Plea for Light-House Lnprovement, . 141 

CHAPTER XVn. 

Days When a Hogshead of Coal Lasted Portland a Whole Season 
— Mr. Samuel E. Spring and the Government Sale of 
Cigars— Gunning on Richmond Island — Formation of the 
Willard Shooting Association — Pat and the Loon, . .150 

CHAPTER XVHL 

How the "Brooklyn" Struck on Hog Island Ledge — Old Nep- 
tune Visits the Pilot Boat "Maggie" and Shaves the Pas- 
sengers — Mr. Strout's Encounter with a Sword-Fish — Some- 
thing About Spanish Mackerel, 159 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Schooner " B. J. Willard " and Her Fortunes — How Steamers 
Have Taken the Freights from Sailing Vessels — The Way 
in Which I Celebrated the Portland Centennial — About 
the Water Boat "Fannie G." — Sunfish and Their Curious 
Formation, . . . . . . . . .169 

CHAPTER XX. 

The First Tow-Boat in Portland — Changed Conditions of Ocean 
Traffic — The Blue Shark and His Pursuit — Wild Geese 
Shooting — A Notable Sword-Fish Party — The First Prize in 
Nine Years — Last Deep-Sea-Fishing Trip for the Season. 181 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Transit Between the Cape and Portland — The Famous Ferry 
Fight — A Stormy Town-Meeting — The Dinner That Cost 
Five Hundred Dollars a Plate — Cape Elizabeth Electrics — 
The Island Traffic and the Casco Bay Steamboat Company, igo 



Addendum, 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



. Capt. Benjamin J. Willard-^ Frontispiece, . 
■The Willard Homestead, 1813, . 

Minot's Ledc-.e Lioht-House, 

. British Steamship "Antelope," Capt. John Smith, 

- SWORD-FISH, , . . 

^The "Nettle" in a Hioh Wind, . . • • 

• Capture and Blowing up of the "Caleb Cushing," 
Capt. John Liscomp., . . • • 

■ One of Spot's Tricks, . . ■ • 
vDusKY Maneater Shark, 
. Head Trick, ..•••• 
vCapiain Willard and His Dog Spot, . 

Captain Willard Battling with a Whale, 
V Dog and Bird Trick, 
. Spot Spelling His Name, 
^Doi; AND Bird Trick, 
Chair Trick, . 
;Blackfish, 
^St. Elmo's Fire, 
/ Water-Spouts, 
Capt. William Senter, 
Life-Preserver, 

|. N. Martin, President of the 
Association, 
N Captain Willard as Neptune, 
Pilot Boat "Maggie," Capt. Edward L. Parsons, 

>The Spanish Mackerel, 

V The Schooner "B. J. Willard," 



Willard Shooti 



PAGE 

2 -y 

17 

37 

50 

58 

65 

75 

77 

94 

96 

98 

100 

102 

104 

105 
107 
108 
III 
121 

125 

134^ 

142 

155 
160 
162 
167 
170 



14 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

^' Steam Water Boat " Fannie G.,"' Capt. Daniki. Peter- 
son, 1883, ......... 175 

'^ SUNFISH, . . . . . . . . . . 178 

' TOW-BOAI' "TlCER," THE FlRS l' Ti)W-Bi)Al' IN P()R'rL\Nr), 182 

■" CaPT. B. J. WiLLARD's CoTTAdE, PeAKS ISLAND, 1884, . 185 

^ Capt. B. J. WiLLARD Trap SHOOTiNf;, June, 1895, • ^97 

'^ A Shoai> of Porpoises, ....... 199 

/Oak Tree at Horsmonden, ...... 202 

■ Horsmonden Church, Where Simon Willard Was 

Christened, April 5, 1605, ..... 205 



CHAPTER I. 

CRADLKI. IN A F.OAT.— EARLIEST KECOLLECIIONS.— CATCHING THE 
FIRST SHARK.— A MAMMOTH COD.— MY TRIP TO THE GEORGES 
BANK AND HOW I LOST MY BLACK STOCKINGS.— THE HAMPTON 
BOAT AND THE WHITE HEAD BOILING SPRINGS. — LOBSTER 
CATCHING FIFTY YEARS A(;o. 

T WAS born October 30, 1828, at Simonton's Cove, 
^ Cape Elizabetb, I^Ie., cradled in a fishing boat, and 
brought up to be a fisherman; so that my earliest 
recollections are all of the sea. 

My first fishing trip was made in 1836, when I was 
not quite eight years old ; and though I caught but 
forty-seven mackerel, while my father caught between 
two and three barrels, my catch was thought a big one 
for so small a boy, and I felt very proud of my first 
success. The next spring my father bought a small 
fishing schooner with a pink stern, called the " Lively," 
which he kept two years, at times going to Damariscove 
Island Harbor, Mackerel Cove in Harpswell, and New 
Meadows Bay; though Richmond's Island was often 
visited, it being the best place to set nets over night for 
bait. White Head Ground and Drunken Ledge were 
noted for good fishing, particularly cod, when the dif- 
ferent schools of fish migrated northward 

The " Lively" proving too small, my father, in the 
spring of 1840, bought the schooner " Martha Washing- 
ton," a large, able schooner for those days. She also 
had a pink stern — indeed at that time no others were 
to be seen. I was then about twelve years old, and felt 
myself a big boy, though not above a little fun which 



t6 captain bkn'vS book. 

sometimes led me into scrapes. One day, on the 
schooner, father and the creM^ turned in for an afternoon 
nap, as the}- expected to be fishing for hake that night, 
and left me on the lookout. Looking for fun I threw 
overboard some fish livers and tolled up a large flock 
of hag-dolls ; then baited a mackerel line at which they 
bit fast. These birds bite hard and fight like an eagle. 
I tossed them into an empty barrel, where they fought 
fiercely in their struggles to get out. Such a noise I 
never heard before or since. The crew were wakened, 
and soon tumbled on deck, unable to sleep. At my 
father's orders I tossed the birds overboard. That was 
ni}^ last attempt to catch hag-dolls. 

My First Shark. — One night while I was doing 
boy's duty on the dog watch, from 6 to 8 in the even- 
ing, and amusing myself by catching squid, I saw a big 
fish swimming round which soon stole my bait. The 
water was sparkling with phosphorus and I could see 
him plainly; so I baited a large shark hook with a 
haddock and dropped it overboard. In a moment he 
swallowed it. Wild with excitement I rushed to the 
forecastle and shouted, " I have him." 

The crew tumbled on deck to see what I did have, at 
once saw it was a shark, and proceeded to haul him up, 
my brother William standing by with the lance ready 
to kill him. To the surprise of all, the fish rolled the 
line round him, so that he came up tail first and could 
not be lanced for fear of cutting the line. He would 
hit hard enough blows on the side of the schooner to 
shake her, and in his struggles hit Kben Willard a blow 
on the face that knocked him down. Meanwhile my 
father talked strong language to me, and forbade my 
shark-fishing in future. "There's no sleeping where 
that boy is," he said. 



l8 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

But after a time the shark turned, came up head 
first, and was easily killed by the lance. All hands 
then hoisted the monster on deck, when he was found 
to be fifteen feet in length and with jaws large enough 
to swallow a man whole. When the liver was taken 
out it filled a barrel and a half. Then father felt better, 
but said to me, " Ben, don't you ever put that hook out 
for shark again." I was always good to mind, and 
obeyed orders ; but somehow I was continually getting 
into mischief before I knew it, though I never fished for 
shark again while on the " Martha Washington." 

A Mammoth Cod, — Later in the season we went 
on to the fishing ground called " Mistaken Ground," a 
good place for fish when the herring come on the coast. 
During the first day whales came and herring were 
schooling thick. You could see whales in all direc- 
tions. One came up and rubbed so hard against the 
schooner as to careen her some. The monster was 
longer than the vessel. Being frightened I ran to the 
other side, when my father told me to pump some bilge 
water out. This I did, and the whale left in a hurry, 
but soon came up in the midst of a large school of 
herring, swallowing what must have been four or five 
barrels of them. But he was a good whale for us, for 
he drove as many more barrels into our nets, giving 
us plenty of bait next day when we fell in with numer- 
ous cod. 

Three boats left the schooner next morning and 
returned before ten o'clock full of large cod. By two in 
the afternoon they returned with three more loads, my 
brother William stringing his painter (the line that 
tows the boat) with big fish. After dinner, which, being 
the boy, I had to get, the crew dressed and split the cod 
for salting and put them in the hold. After dinner I put 



A MAMMOTH COD. 1 9 

out two lines in forty-five fathoms of water, and pres- 
ently felt something big and strong pulling at one of 
them. It struggled nobly, while the crew looked on 
laughingly and shouted, "Tug, away, Bennie; you'll 
soon get him." They thought I was fast to one of 
those deep Avater skates, as large as a barn door and 
with three or four tails. The more I tugged the more 
they made fun of me. But I could say nothing. The 
boy on a vessel, as is well known, has to take all 
manner of insults and still keep cool. It is pretty 
hard work sometimes. At last I could see large bub- 
bles of air and two big cod-fish on my line, so shouted 
to the crew to jump for their gaffs. Mr. William Jones, 
who was nearest the rail splitting fish, looked over and 
sang out so loud that all the crew sprang from their 
work to the side. The two fish were soon hauled on 
deck. It was estimated that the biggest one was good 
for 130 pounds, aud it proved to weigh 75 pounds when 
dried. It was said to be the largest cod-fish ever 
landed on House Island, and the spots on it were as 
big as silver dollars. I think Mr. Alpha Sterling will 
remember that cod. It was the talk for many a da v. 
In those days halibut were plenty. Saturday was the 
day to land fish at House Island. My father under- 
stood the movements of the fish well, and ever}^ week he 
went farther east, where the whales and herring were 
schooling the thickest. The third and last trip was 
made southeast from Monhegan Island, some twenty 
miles distant. In four or five days we filled the 
schooner three times. Every night the nets would fill 
with herring. After this three or four weeks were 
spent in cod-fishing. Then the schooner was fitted 
and painted, to fish for mackerel. In those days hook 
fishing was profitable, and good wages were made by 
the crews. 



20 CAPTAIN BKn'S BOOK. 

My First Trip to thp: Banks. — In 1843, or about 
that date, when I was fifteen years old, father saw a 
Cape Ann schooner come into Portland from Georges 
Bank with a large fare of halibut- So he fitted his 
schooner out for a trip himself, with sails and rigging 
about new, plenty of hemp cable, and an ice-pen hold- 
ing two or three tons, on which was plenty of fresh 
bait. He took a supply of heav}^ leads to use in strong 
tides. Some of the crew felt a little shaky, as bad 
reports had been received of the loss of fishing vessels. 
However, as it was the best time of year for the trip, 
they concluded to make the venture. It took nearly 
three days with light winds to reach the north part of 
the Banks; and, just at that time, the wind changed 
to southeast, blowing a stroug gale that lasted all one 
night ; then it shifted to south and blew harder until 
it died out and a thick fog came. The sea was run- 
ning mountains high, and it seemed at times the vessel 
would roll over. I was seasick, as I alwa^'S was in 
rough weather. After four days of this sort of thing 
the sea went down, and I felt like getting on deck. 

How I Lost My Black Stockings. — When I got 
out of my berth Mr. William Jones went for ni}^ feet, 
roughly hauled my stockiugs off, and threw them over- 
board, getting me another pair in their place. When 
I asked him what he did that for, he solemnl}- said : 
" Beunie, don't j^ou ever wear black stockings on 
board this vessel again. We have had all this bad luck 
b}' 3'our black stockings." This incident goes to show 
how superstitious sailors are. At times they will nail 
horseshoes on the heel of the bowsprit to keep the 
witches away from the vessel. 

This was the first and last trip to Georges Banks. 



WHEN LOBSTERvS WERE PLENTY. 21 

The schooner was then headed for Jefferies Bank, 
where a good fare was got ; and then back home ; which 
all hands were glad enongh to reach alive and well, 
and better satisfied for the fnture to stay on inner fish- 
ing grounds, where harbor could be made when heav}^ 
storms came on. But wasn't I seasick! 

When LoBvSters Were Plenty. — About 1844 
father sold the '' Martha Washington" and built a cheap 
house for summer at x^lewive Cove, Cape Elizabeth, to 
live in while he carried on fishing and lobstcring. In 
those days lobsters were large and plenty, and a sloop 
smack, whose captain's name was Marston, came from 
Boston for them regularl}^ Cod-fish were also plenty 
near the coves and points, as they would follow the 
alewives to the brook leading up to the big pond on the 
cape, where they went to spawn. Millions went there 
for years, and if the brook were opened up for the 
alewives now, it would be worth thousands of dollars 
to the fishermen of Cape Elizabeth. 

About this time father had a large Hampton boat 
built for me, of which I felt very proud ; for she was 
big and safe. She was not so fast as some of my 
neighbors' boats ; but I made up for that by rising- 
early and reaching the grounds by daylight. There 
was fine fighting to get the best berths on White Head 
Ground and Drunken Ledge, as there seemed to be 
boiling springs at the bottom, where the fish went for 
fresh water. At a short distance from those places no 
fish could be caught. I have known but one man, in 
all my life, who could see for long distances, and make 
out flags on ships, as I could. This man was Mr. 
George Leavitt, of Willard, Cape Elizabeth. He is 
still living, and with eye-sight as good as ever — as 



22 CAPTAIN ben's BOOK. 

indeed mine is, for that matter. When Mr. Leavitt 
and I were on those grounds, waiting to see our local 
marks, we would both get them at the same moment, 
and both killicks go down at the same time. It was 
then thought mean for one boat to anchor close to 
another engaged in catching fish ; but if the two 
anchored at the same time it was all right. For bait 
we used clams until the porgies and herring came. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE HARBOR IN A FOG. OLD TIME HOSPITALITY ON THE CAPE. 

MY FIRST CHEW OF TOBACCO. AN ANCIENT SCHOOL-HOUSE. • 

HOW FISHERMEN CAME TO USE COMPASSES. THE HARM DONE 

TO HOOK FISHING BY SEINES AND SEALS. 

TN foggy weather it is an easy thing to lose one's way 
on the water, even in our sheltered harbor. The 
following is a case in point : One day, late in the 
afternoon, as I was coming from Green Island and 
making for White Head, I saw a pleasure boat, filled 
with men, women, and children, heading out to sea. 
Knowing they must have lost their way I hailed them, 
and in reply was told the^^ were going to Portland. 
Great was their surprise when told that the}' had mis- 
taken their direction. I gave them a line and towed 
them to port. As we passed the Spindle, their aston- 
ishment was boundless at discovering that they had 
gone out by White Head, when they thought they were 
making good way to Portland; and in their gratitude, 
when landed at Commercial Wharf, they offered to pay 
me anything that might be asked. 

In those da^^s man^- boats w^ere let for sailing par- 
ties; and I have often wondered that drowning acci- 
dents were so few, as many of the excursionists slaked 
their thirst Math something stronger than water. ]Most 
of the fishermen would "fill up" Saturday- and Sunday, 
though keeping sober on other days, when at their 
work. There were exceptions though. One da}^ Mr. 
Some One ran ashore on Bangs Island (now called 
Cushing's) after imbibing too freely, and had to be 



24 CAPTAIN ben's BOOK. 

hauled off by the fishermen from the cove. At another 
time another Mr. Somebody, who was carefnl not to 
set any sail when in drink, but trusted to his oars, 
rowed ashore at ebb-tide, where he remained for some 
time, the spectators amusing themselves at his expense. 
But I do not now remember of any fatal accidents hap- 
pening to men in drink. 

There was more hospitality in those times than 
now. When the fishermen went to Richmond's Island, 
they would spend the night in the barn on the hay. 
Mr. Jordan was always good to them, and did not call 
them tramps, as is the custom nowadays. The Cape 
Blizabeth fishermen themselves are kind-hearted and 
free-handed, ready to divide the last loaf with their 
neighbors if in need. Often, when a boy, I have heard 
my parents say that some family was in need. As soon 
as the news was noised about, the neighbors would go 
there with their arms full, and the next day a load of 
wood would be dropped at the door. No one had heard 
of "pound parties" then, to which each one carries a 
pound of something, and all sta}^ half the night and 
eat the Avhole up. 

My First Chew of Tobacco. — My first, and 
last, cud of tobacco was chewed while going to school. 
Washington Loveitt, Isaac Cobb, and myself mustered 
two cents apiece and bought a ping of pigtail twist. It 
\vas divided fairlv, and we stowed a cjuid in our cheeks. 
All went merrily- while we were in the open air, and 
we thought we were men indeed; but somehow the 
school-house seemed uncommonly warm. I began to 
sweat freely, and on looking at Cobb found he was get- 
ting white, while his hair was steaming. Prett}- soon 
he asked leave to go and get a drink of water. About 
the time he got back to his seat I began to think a 



AN OLD-TIME vSCHOOL-HOUvSE. 25 

little water would be good for me. Before I got 
tlirougli, Loveitt started for the water pail, and Cobb 
asked to go out. I followed with Loveitt at my heels. 
Three sicker bo^-s were never seen. We were absent 
so long that Mr. Hnos Dyer, the school-master, sus- 
pected something and started in search of us. He at 
once saw the trouble, advised us never to chew again 
(advice which I have followed to this day), and told 
us to go home. This we were glad to do, but our hats 
were in the school-house. As Loveitt had the best 
legs, he brought our hats out ; still, we could not walk 
without staggering, and so crawled on our hands and 
knees over the stone-wall, where we la^' until school 
was out and the children gone. Then I went home 
and stole to bed without my supper. There my mother 
found me, sick, as she supposed, with a headache, and 
and bound my head up with burdock leaves steeped in 
vinegar. I have never taken a piece of tobacco into 
my mouth from that day to this. Of my companions, 
Mr. Loveitt is still living at Cape Elizabeth, and Mr. 
Cobb is gone. 

An Old-Time School-House. — Sixty years ago 
school-houses were far different from those we build 
now. The one in our district, where I attended, was 
situated below the Danforth Hill, near the brook, on 
the shore road to Portland Light, a mile or more from 
Simonton's Cove. It was but one story, low-studded, 
narrow, and long like a ten-pin alley, and set end to the 
road. The long wood stove would take in uncut cord 
wood, and the funnel ran the whole length of the build- 
ing it was supposed to heat; but in northeast snow- 
storms the snow would blow in round the windows, and 
those of us lucky enough to have overcoats were glad 
to use them, so bitter was the cold. We had a very 



26 CAPTAIN ben's BOOK. 

nice book to take the place of grammar, a Robert B. 
Thomas Almanac. This we studied every night before 
going to bed, to see if the tide was fair at one o'clock 
in the morning, so that we conld row to the fishing- 
grounds. The master gave us Saturday afternoons for 
play, but that did not suit the big boys, so they would 
fill the funnel Saturday morning with juniper bushes 
and smoke everybody out. The result would be the 
adjournment of school until Monday, so that the funnel 
might be cleaned out. Then the big bo3's would start 
for the rabbit swamp and spend the rest of the day 
hunting. 

How FivSHKRMKN Came To Use the Compass. — 
At that time no compasses w^ere used bv the fishermen. 
They all went to any shoal they wished, steering by 
the sea. In thick fog a swell would roll in from the 
ocean, and the lead was used when near the shoal. 
Compasses were not employed till some of the boats 
got lost in a snow-storm coming home from White 
Head Grounds, being misled by the changing off wind 
and no land in sight. ( You cannot run b}' the sea in 
a snow-storm; as the wind changes j^ou will steer by 
that). One or two of the boats made Stratton Island, 
and some Richmond Island, but all got into good har- 
bors before night fell, where they remained until the 
storm was over. Meanwhile much anxiety was felt at 
home for their safety, and thereafter they were per- 
suaded to take compasses. 

About 1846 I took Mr. James Cobb into company. 
In early spring we went in the large boat, but later on 
used both. Cobb was smart and prompt, and the 
quickest man to wake from sound sleep I ever knew. 
If you spoke to him in a moderate tone of voice, ten 
feet aw^a}", he would spring up at once. The second 



vSKlNES AND SEALS. 2'^ 

year we were together we heard, about the last of June, 
that mackerel were plenty off Cape Ann and coming 
east in large schools; so I fitted the large boat and 
started to meet them off Boon Island, knowing that I 
could put into Portsmouth or old York for harbor, in 
case of a storm. Mr. Cobb took the small boat to fish 
on Cod Ledge ; we both had good luck, and came back 
to Portland loaded with cod and mackerel, for which 
we got a fair price, clearing about forty dollars apiece 
— which came in very handy, for the Fourth of July 
was close at hand. My mackerel usually went to Mr. 
John Loveitt, for he alwaj'S did the right thing by the 
fishermen. 

Seines and Seals. — In those days all the boats 
made money fast, but after a time so many were 
brought in that prices went down. Now a mackerel is 
rarely caught with the hook. What with seining on 
the outside and seals on the inside, where mackerel 
used to go and spawn, and where boats in August and 
September could catch from fifty to three hundred 
pounds anj'wdiere in Casco Bay, real old-fashioned fish- 
ing is about ruined ; but drive the seals out of the bay 
and the mackerel will come again. The seals are now 
so numerous that they go to sea for food. I have seen 
them ten miles out in summer, the ledges fairly swarm- 
ing with them, basking in the sun. 

As for seining, the porgy steamers wath their seines 
have driven the fish off the coast. The last time the 
porgies came back they had been absent twelve years. 
When the}' are on the coast and in the ba3'S, fish of all 
kinds come into the shoal water, and the fishermen by 
setting nets get all the bait they want. If all seining 
were to be stopped for a reasonable time, so as to give 
the fish a chance to breed and not frighten them awa^^, 



28 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

the shore fishermen could once again get a good living 
by hook fishing. But they never can till then. 

I think 1848 was the best ^-ear I ever saw for the 
fishermen in boats. At the Hue and Cr}^ Shoal Mr. 
Cobb and myself got from daylight to noon something 
over 1,400 pounds of mackerel. All the other boats 
did as well, and some of them better. We often saw 
fifteen or twent}' boats in one string. The mackerel 
came along shore in large schools, and were found in 
Casco Bay, Harpswell Bay, New Meadows, and around 
shoals everywhere. I have seen great schools inside of 
Bangs Island. Now the seining, south in the spring, 
has driven the large body of them outside of Nantucket 
Shoals to the northern part of the Gulf Stream and to 
Nova Scotia waters. Had the seine never been used, 
our coast would be good to-day for hook fishing, and 
far better for all classes of fishermen. 

Trawl fishing, too, has hurt cod trade; for it 
catches up the mother fish that rarely bites at hand 
lines. When I was young the bank fishermen would 
come home with flags flying and a full cargo, and fill 
the flakes at House Island. I have rowed man}- mer- 
chants to this island to buy fish. To-day the flakes 
are down and the island looks desolate. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE LOSS OF THE PLEASURE BOAT " LEO " IN CASCO BAY. DEATH BY 

DROWNING OF A WOMAN AND EIGHT CHILDREN. LIVING ON 

CRACKER CRUMBS IN THE BAY OF FUNDY. WHIMSICAL ADVENT- 
URE NEAR BIDDEFORD POOL. A PERILOUS PASSAGE FROM 

PHILADELPHIA TO PORTLAND. 

npHE sad accident to the pleasure boat " Leo," near 
Hog Island Ledge, by which nine lives were lost, is 
not yet forgotten by the older people of Portland. It 
was on the 2 2d of July, 1848, that I passed the boat as 
she was going down the harbor, and noted that she 
had two sails up, while one was all a careful man would 
like to carr}^ ; but took no further thought, having 
seen many pleasure boats loaded with passengers in 
the hands of men unaccustomed to handle them in a 
strong wind. The wind was then blowing hard from 
the southwest. 

When the pleasure boat "P'avorite" came home in 
the evening she reported seeing a boat suddenlj- dis- 
appear near Hog Island Ledge. This aroused anxiety 
for the "Leo," and Mr. Edward Harlow, her owner, 
started for the ledge. When near it he heard a man 
crving for help, and soon found Mr. William Smith 
clinging to the mast-head of the sunken boat and 
nearlv dead from exhaustion. This was at eleven 
o'clock in the night. It seeenied that the "Leo" upset 
about eight o'clock. All the passengers except Air. 
Smith, including his wife and four children and the 
four children of Mr. and Mrs. John Wh3'ley, were 
drowned. The man in charge of the boat, a sailor. 



30 CAPTAIN BEN'vS book. 

named Stephenson, swam to the ledge, from which he 
w^as taken off by the rescuing party. When the news 
of the accident spread, all the fishermen of the vicinity 
turned out with hooks and grapples to recover the 
bodies ; but the eel-grass was long and got tangled in 
the hooks, so that three of the children, one belonging 
to the Whyley family, were never found. The body 
of Mrs. Smith was found floating several days later, 
and I grappled that of her son, a boy about six j^ears 
old. When the "Leo" was raised (her mast was some 
four feet out of w^ater, at low tide ) it was seen that the 
fore sheet had been made fast — a fact showing bad 
management. 

I Become My Own Man. — In the fall of 1848, 
when I was twenty years old, my father kindl}^ gave 
me one year, and much to my pleasure I became my 
own man. 

The summer of 1849 was good for fishing at 
Simonton's Cove, and Mr. Cobb and m3'self made it a 
profitable season. The next summer I shipped as 
mate with my brother, H. G. Willard, in the schooner 
"Jerome," a vessel of 106 tons register and capable of 
carrying 150 tons of coal; this being about the usual 
size of coasters at that date. While mate of this vessel 
I saw some hard service; particularly on a voyage to 
the Bay of Fundy, where I passed gloomy hours on an 
uninhabited island with nothing to eat but cracker 
crumbs, and mighty few of them. We were from Port- 
land, bound for Calais, and, though the morning was 
fine at the hour of sailing, the schooner ran into a fog- 
before we had gone far — fog which lasted two days 
without any signs of lifting. On the afternoon of the 
second day we struck shoal water and let go the anchor. 
As we thought we could hear the surf a short distance 



I BECOME MY OWN MAN. 3 1 

to the north, the yawl boat was lowered and my brother 
and I jnmped into her, leaving Mr. John F. Loveitt 
and Talbert, the cook, on board. We pnt off into the 
thick fog, bnt conld find nothing. Before long the tide 
and wind changed against ns, darkness came on, and 
in spite of all onr efforts we steadily drifted away from 
the ship. For a time we could hear the horn, and 
after that a gun. (Subsequently we learned that 
Loveitt kept on firing the gun until his powder gave 
out. ) After rowing five or six hours we had to give it 
up and drift wherever the strong wind and tide would 
carry us. It was a long and dark night, and as we 
had no oil clothes or extra coats we suffered severely 
from the cold and wet. 

About daylight we heard the surf beating on the 
rocks, and let the lead go down, but found no bottom. 
Presentl}' we saw the breakers and both braced up to 
keep the boat clear of them. As it grew lighter we 
saw a small island with high banks and heavily 
wooded. There we landed, shivering with cold and 
wet to the skin. Though we stayed ashore a long 
time, no signs of life could be seen. After a time we 
caught a glimpse of a larger island, and setting off for 
that, had the good fortune to find an English pilot boat 
laying there. Going on board, we were heartily wel- 
comed by the crew, who gathered about, eager to hear 
our story. The first thing the^- offered us was rum, 
which, as neither of us had ever tasted liquor, we de- 
clined — to their utter amazement. They had run 
short of provisions, but managed to get some coffee 
and food for us, which we devoured eagerl3\ It was 
little enough, but nearly all the^^ had, though rum was 
plenty. 

Our anxiety for the "Jerome" was so great that 



32 CAPTAIN BEN'vS ]!()0K. 

as soon as we were warmed and a bit rested we engaged 
a pilot to set out in search of her. He thought she 
must be anchored at Seal Island Rips, and that the 
sound we took for the surf was the high tide on the 
rips; so he started for there, but was baffled by the 
heavy winds and came back to his starting point. 
Then my brother and I took the yawl boat and went 
ashore to find something to eat. All we found was an 
empty building fastened up tightly, and in order to 
enter it we had to unscrew the hinges from the door. 
Nothing was there but a few hard bread crumbs in the 
bottom of a barrel. These tasted sweet and good, but 
went only a little way toward satisf^dng our hunger. 
We replaced the hinges, and would have left money for 
food had we found anything to eat. 

Pulling back to the ship we passed the night there, 
but could not sleep much as our minds were on the 
"Jerome" and the two men left alone with her. We 
well knew that she could not ride long in that high 
wind and sea; so the next morning the pilot boat got 
under way and started on her search. As nothing 
could be seen of the missing vessel I asked to be landed 
at Eastport, where we might get news of her. So we 
made for that harbor, and to our great joy came across 
the "Jerome" making for the same shelter. Their 
relief was as great as ours, for they had almost given 
us up for lost. It seems that the schooner went adrift ; 
but they were fortunate enough to reach the lee of 
Libby Island, where they anchored until the wind 
abated. After paying the pilot and stocking him up 
with provisions, the first thing my brother and I did 
was to make for the cabin double quick and eat a good 
dinner, the first we had had for two da3^s. Food never 
tasted so good to me before. 



WRKCKED IN vSACO RIVKR. 33 

It seems that the next day after my brother and I 
left the "Jerome" at anchor at Seal Island Rips she 
struck a drift in a high wind and fog. Mr. Loveitt 
and the cook reefed the sails, set them, and slipped the 
chain; loosing the small anchor and chain and steering 
northwest until they made breakers. They tacked off, 
then tacked back. In tacking back the schooner had 
gone to the leeward, with the strong tide, enough to 
come under the lee of Libb}- Island into smooth water, 
where she anchored with the big anchor. The next day 
the wind was west and the fog clearing. Loveitt saw 
three fishermen lobstering, put his flag in the rigging, 
called them aboard, and made a trade with them to pilot 
and help get the vessel to Hastport. While on the way 
we boarded her with the pilot boat. The fishermen 
were paid in money, and the pilot in ship stores. Then 
the pilot took the fishermen back home. Our yawl 
boat was hoisted up and the vessel kept off for Calais, 
where we loaded a cargo of laths for Philadelphia. 
Before we finallj^ got out of the Bay of Fundy the fog 
shut in again and followed us to Cape Cod. The 
passage out was good, as we had favorable winds to 
the Capes of Delaware. We all felt good to get away 
from Fundy alive. I have not been there since, and 
have no desire to go again ; getting all I wanted and 
more than I bargained for that time. 

Wrecked in Saco River. — From Philadelphia 
we took a cargo of coal to Saco, ]\Iaine, and on arriv- 
ing at Biddeford Pool Captain Tappen was engaged as 
pilot. Going up the Saco River the schooner ran 
ashore in the mud ; and a pleasure steamboat called 
"The Belle" was employed to pull her off and tow her 
up to town. While discharging cargo, the "Belle" 
advertised to give a moonlight sail down the river and 



34 CAPTAIN BKN'S book. 

a dance at the ferry. Mr. Loveitt and I invited some 
lady friends to go. On the return, about midnight, 
we met with a ludicrous adventure. The boat ran on 
to a little island in the darkness near the Narrows, and 
stove a hole in the bottom. As she began to fill fast, 
the fires were drawn, the steam blown out, and the 
gangway plank run out towards the island. We men 
had to take the lady passengers ashore in our arms 
through three feet of water. A lame man on board 
offered Mr. Loveitt and me five dollars to "tote" him 
to land, and we promised to do it for nothing as soon 
as the ladies were looked out for; but he would not 
wait, and was soon on the shoulders of two other men, 
one of whom slipped and dumped him into the stream. 
Just as all had got ashore safel}^, some dories came up 
and were sent to town for transportation. Meanwhile, 
we made a fire on the island, and passed the time 
pleasantly until the boats could carr^^ us across the 
river to the Saco side, where teams were in readiness 
to take us to town, which we reached about sunrise. 
Saco River was certainly the last place in which I ever 
expected to be wrecked. 

A Perilous November Passage. — The roughest 
passage I ever had while mate of the "Jerome" was 
from Philadelphia to Portland, with a cargo of coal, in 
November, 1850. We had favorable winds until off 
Chatham Light, when threatening weather set in and 
lasted until we reached port. The wind got round to the 
east and made a heavy sea fast. As it began to blow 
more heavily we shortened sail, keeping just enough 
canvas spread to get by the high land of Cape Cod. 
After passing Peaked Hill Bar the schooner was hove 
to under three-reefed mainsail for a dead drift into Bos- 
ton Ba3^ Before morning the sea boarded her, stove 



A PERILOUS NOVEMBER PASvSAGE. 35 

the galle3^ doors down, and washed ever^^thing out but 
the stove. The gale lasted until nine o'clock in the 
forenoon, and a few hours after we struck a snow- 
squall and were obliged to throw our deck load of coal 
overboard to lighten the vessel. The sea ran high 
and came tumbling on deck, and some of the waist- 
boards had to be knocked off to let the water out 
quickl3\ 

My brother carried sail as long as it could be 
done safely, but finally had to heave to. It began to 
look like a close shave, and I lashed some kegs for 
life preservers in case we were driven ashore. I kept 
sounding with a deep-sea line, and about midnight 
found bottom. At this moment my hands grew so 
numb that I lost the line. A new one was hastily im- 
provised by unreefing the pennant halyards from the 
main topmast, and the next sounding showed no 
shoaler water. Then we all began to feel a little 
easier. When daj^light came the snow cleared away, 
and we ran up under the lee of Chatham, and anchored 
with our big anchor weighing over a thousand pounds. 
There we lay for two days, as a big sea was rolling 
round the cape. 

When the wind changed to the west and the sea 
went down we headed for Portland, having favorable 
winds and fair weather until we got about half-way 
between Cape Cod and Cape Elizabeth. Then another 
snow-squall struck us, and we had a succession of them 
the rest of the voyage, until near Cape Elizabeth lights. 
Then the squalls ceased and we made Portland. When 
we arrived there our decks looked as if they had been 
holy-stoned with sand for a week. 



CHAPTER IV. 

IN WHICH I BECOME A SHIP-OWNER. THE GREAT APRIL GALE OF 

1851. RIDING IT OUT IN LITTLE EGG HARBOR. THE RACE 

FROM PHILADELPHIA TO PORTLAND. FORSAKING SEA FOR LAND 

SERVICE. 

TN the winter of 1851 I bought a quarter interest in 
the "Jerome," and took charge of her, having very 
good luck in making quick trips between Portland and 
Philadelphia ; nor did my good fortune desert me in the 
great April gale of that 3'ear, when so many vessels 
were lost and lives sacrificed. Sailing from Philadel- 
phia for New York, on the iSth of that month, I had a 
quick run to ten miles north of Barnegat Light. Four 
hours more would have carried me to Sandy Hook; 
but the wind sprang up from the northeast, the weather 
thickened, and there was every indication of a strong 
gale ; so I ran back off Little Egg Harbor. Some- 
thing told me to put in there, though all I had to go 
by was courses from buo^^s, jotted down on a piece of 
paper and given to me by a New Jersey captain. 

I ran for the first buoy, but before getting to it 
saw two men in a boat beckoning for me to luff. I did 
so, and presently the boat pulled alongside. The men 
proved to be pilots who told me that the way I was 
taking would carry the vessel on to a nine-feet shoal. 
On quoting the New Jersey captain's directions, they 
said that would be all right in ordinary times, but the 
ice had changed the buoy some distance to the south- 
west, and the government had not had time to move it 
back. 




MINOT'S LEDGE LIGHT-HOUSE. 



38 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

We lay at Little Egg Harbor for three days, wait- 
ing for the heavy swell to go down; for the gale was 
long and terrific and the tide, the highest known for 
years, covering the low lands inside the sea banks for 
many miles. While there I feasted on excellent cod- 
fish, which they kept alive as the Maine smacks do 
lobsters in their wells. The rest of the vo3/age was 
nneventfnl, thongh we passed man}- wrecks; and, on 
arriving in New York, the first thing I saw in the 
newspapers was an acconnt of that memorable and 
destrnctive storm which washed down Minot's Ledge 
Light-house, drowned the keepers, and spread devasta- 
tion all along that part of the coast. I am satisfied 
that if I had not run into Little Egg Harbor I should 
have been lost, for ni}' vessel conld not live fifteen 
hours in that gale — though what impulse drove me to 
my determination I cannot tell to this day. Tvlinot's 
Ledge Light-house (of which an excellent illnstration 
is given on page 37 ) was on a rock about twenty miles 
from Boston, built of solid iron piles, sixty feet high 
and ten inches in diameter. The fury of a gale suffi- 
cient to overthrow it can scared}' be imagined. 

The most of my coal freights from Philadelphia to 
Portland were consigned to Messrs. Charles and Abel 
Baker, who kept a coal yard on Richardson's Wharf. 
They were both honest gentlemen to deal with. I 
made many quick trips, arriving ahead of the bill of 
lading^ on one of them. On receivino: the bill Mr. Abel 
Baker at once went to an insurance officer and paid 
$40 for insuring the cargo. Great was his astonish- 
ment on returning to find me sitting in his office and 
my vessel hauling up to his coal shed. At that time 
freights in winter and spring were $3.00 to $3.50 a 
ton, and in summer about $1.50 to $1.75. 



A RACE UP THE NORTH COAST. 39 

A Race Up the North Coast. — In 185 1 my 
brother, E. G. Willard, built a centreboard schooner in 
Philadelphia, which carried about 240 tons of coal. 
She was so large it was very difficult to get a full 
cargo unless we took two or three different sizes of 
coal. When his vessel was nearly ready to be launched 
she was named the " E. G. Willard," and I took his 
sails, rigging, and fittings out there in the "Jerome" 
on ni}' next trip. She was rigged and already to go 
up river to Bristol, twenty miles above Philadelphia, 
to load coal for Portland, for three round trips and a 
half. It was sharp racing. 

I will cite the first passage from Bristol to Port- 
land. Both vessels loaded at one time, shoved off from 
the coal docks about 6 p. m., calm and first ebb-tide. 
We drifted down river all that tide, and anchored for 
the next ebb-tide. The next day the wind was south- 
west, both vessels beating down river with the tide, and 
both keeping near together until we got down to 
Chester. Then he put his centreboard down and 
gained away from me fast, and when I got down to 
Reedy Island he was nearl}- hull down. At that time 
we took a fearful squall from the northwest with thun- 
der, lightning, and rain. I ran under short sail down 
to Boniby Hook and anchored. As the night was 
very dark and the wind blowing hard, I did not think 
it safe to run down the bay. At that time I thought 
E. G. was far enough ahead to make Cross Ledge light 
ship and keep on going down the bay. At two next 
morning the anchor was hove up and we started down 
the ba3\ At da3'light in the morning I was within a 
mile of E. G. He was getting under wa}^, having 
anchored there, as it w^as thick weather and shoal 
water. When half-way down the ba}- he ran for Cape 



40 CAPTAIN BEN S HOOK. 

May. My vessel drawing twelve feet, I had to run 
down the ship channel and out round the over falls. 
When out there he was hull down ahead. The next 
day the wind changed from northwest to south. When 
back of Long Island the fog shut in, and there was 
about a six or seven knot breeze. I shaped my course 
for Gay Head. The next morning between three and 
four I hove to to wait for daylight. When morning 
came we squared away for Vinej'ard Sound, the fog 
still holding thick, and our horn blowing at short 
intervals. We could hear other horns in most au}^ 
direction, but could see no vessels. When getting 
near the Vineyard both anchors were got in readiness ; 
one man was sent to the foremast head to look over the 
fog, if possible, and see land, one man set to heaving 
the lead on the starboard quarter. By letting out fif- 
teen or twenty fathoms of line the sheets were hauled 
aft, so as to luff quick if needed. After we run our 
time up in about twenty or thirty minutes, the lookout 
forward reported breakers on the port bow. I luffed 
quick. On luf&ng I could see, under the main boom, 
breakers a hundred yards off. At that time there were 
by the lead line eight to nine fathoms. The next 
sounding there was no bottom at fifteen to twenty 
fathoms. The vessel was kept off on her course again, 
and run sometime, when breakers were sighted again 
on her port bow. I luffed some and run parallel with 
the breakers. Shortly the fog lifted a little, and I saw 
the timbers of an old wreck that I had seen several 
times before, and I knew them. It was a short dis- 
tance southerly of Quick's Hole. 

Then I shaped my course for the middle ground, 
got soundings, and sheered off and on, until we got up 
to West Chop. With about a four knot breeze and 



A RACE UP THE NORTH COAST. 4 1 

wind south southwest we went up to West Chop, made 
Spar Buoy, and run down the sound the usual course. 
The fog was very thick. When some three or four 
miles to the eastward of Hast Chop the wind died out, 
there was a head tide, and we anchored. I went below 
to get some rest, leaving orders to call me when there 
was wind enough to stem tide. When I had been 
below an hour or an hour and a half I was called. I 
came on deck and got under way, heading down the 
sound, with all the light sails put on. The fog was 
ver}' thick and wet, with about three knot breeze, the 
fog-horn still blowing at short intervals. After a long 
time running the lookout reported a light right ahead. 
I hove the wheel hard up at once. As the vessel 
swung off quicklv I saw the light between the foremast 
and fore rigging, and when the light got by the fore 
rigging, I steadied the wheel. As we were getting 
close upon the light, it proved to be the light ship with 
no bell ringing. 

We cleared the light ship side from about eight to 
ten feet. I sang out to him in strong language, and 
asked him wh}^ he did not ring his bell. His answer 
was: "What are 3'ou running such a night as this is 
for? " 

I told him there were fifty vessels astern of me 
and I guess he thought so, for I heard the bell ringing 
until I got b}^ Sandy Point. It being too thick to run 
for Pollock Rip light ship, I ran out Ship Channel, 
around the great round shoal. When in deep water 
off the shoals the gaff topsails were clued up, the main 
peak dipped and jibed over and hoisted up, and the 
gaff topsail set, running the course up the back side of 
Cape Cod for Portland. When up between Chatham 
and Nosset, we run out of the fog, and a fresh, warm 



42 CAPTAIN BEn'vS BOOK. 

breeze came off from the sand hills, and, behold, there 
was the " E. G." about a mile ahead. I run up my 
burgee and in a short time he run up his in answer. 

When passing Nosset Light we shaped course for 
Cape Elizabeth. When some fifteen miles north of 
Cape Cod, it commenced a southerly gale with rain, 
and all the light sails had to be taken in; single reef 
in the mainsail, the foresail jib, and flying jib. As it 
would be dark before I could get to Cape Elizabeth b}- 
running a straight course, I hauled to some to make 
the land to the westward of W^ood Island before dark. 
I could see at that time about a half-mile before mak- 
ing the land. I could see a fishing schooner ahead and 
hove to, heading off shore under reef foresail. I kept 
off some to speak him, and when near him I was about 
to ask him how Wood Island bore; but before I could 
speak he asked me how Portland Light bore. I told 
him hoM^ I judged Cape Elizabeth to bear, and I asked 
him if he had seen land. By this time we were too far 
by to hear him ; but he pointed his hand in shore as 
though he had seen land. After passing him he kept 
off to follow us. We were keeping a sharp lookout at 
the time as we thought we were nearing the shore, 
and one man was placed to the mainpeak halyards, 
ready to dip peak for wearing. In a short time surf 
was seen on shore. We at once wore around with main 
peak hoisted up, and kept on running parallel with the 
surf. We could see at the time about half a mile dis- 
tant, and when opposite Wood Island Light they were 
just lighting it. The fishing schooner was on the 
starboard quarter. As I saw he was going to follo^v I 
hung a lantern on the starboard davit and run for the 
back side of Richmond Island. The flying jib was 
hauled down and furled. We run on that course until 



A RACE UP THE NORTH COAST. 43 

breakers were seen on the port bow. The helm was 
put hard down at once. When the vessel came to, to 
be in the trough of the sea, the vessel shipped a great 
deal of water amidships. x\ll hands were on the main 
sheet hauling in to keep it from slatting in the wind. 
The water soon ran off from the deck. The breakers 
that I saw we supposed to be Adam's Head on the back 
side of Richmond Island. I let her jog off shore easy 
until I could steer a straight course for the back side 
of Cape Elizabeth and clear Watts Ledge. When I 
luffed from Adam's Head the fishing schooner came 
near running into mine. In a few minutes I kept off 
for the back side of Cape Elizabeth. 

The mate advised me to haul off shore for the 
night. I told him I was going to Portland, that there 
was bold water near the Cape; I had caught cunners 
off from ever}^ foot of it, and it was safe to go within 
a schooner's length of the shore. I ran until I thought 
we ought to see something. I began to think we were 
running too wide off to see shore or lights ; but in a 
few minutes the lookout reported breakers broad off 
the port bow. I luffed a couple of points and run by 
the breakers. When opposite the Cape lights I could 
just see them through the mist and fog. I run until I 
judged I was b}- Broad Cove Rock and Trundy's Reef 
Shoal. 

Then I jibed over, to run for Portland Head. The 
wind dying awa^^ some, the fog and mist seemed to be 
thicker. As I neared up to Portland Head I could 
hear the rote on shore to the south of it. I kept off 
some and the lookout reported a light right ahead. 
I kept off at once and found it to be Portland Head 
Light, and passed in by very near the Point. 

Then all sail was put on. When inside of Ship 



44 CAPTAIN BEn'vS book. 

Cove we run out of the fog. It was all clear in the 
harbor and I could see coasters' lights anchored in 
Hog Island Roads. Then the fisherman put all sail 
on and passed me very quickly, thanking me, and said 
it w^as well done. When I was inside Spring Point 
Buoy the wind died out, a head tide set in, and I 
anchored. I lowered the boat and took two men and 
rowed to Commercial Wharf. Then I started for the 
^rgUS office. I found my way up the back stairs 
where the boys were setting type, and reported the 
arrival of the schooner "Jerome," Willard, from Phila- 
delphia. In the morning the papers had " E. G. 
Willard," Willard, and "Jerome," Willard, from Phila- 
delphia, reported for three round trips and a half. 
Both vessels were reported the same day arriving and 
clearing at Philadelphia and Portland. 

The next day, on seeing E. G., I found he made, 
in coming into the Vineyard, Nymshebite, north of Gay 
Head; he sounding up on the north of Vinevard Island 
and keeping on sounding until he got up to the middle 
ground ; sounding, off and on, on the south side of the 
middle ground up to West Chop. When some distance 
below East Chop he anchored for some two hours. 
When it breezed up he got under way, running out 
over the shoals in Ship Channel. When off Nosset, it 
being clear weather, he run straight for Cape Eliza- 
beth. When nearing the Cape the first thing sighted 
was Alden's Rock Buoy, close to the bow, just giving 
him time to keep off to clear the shoals. When up to 
Portland Light the\^ were just lighting it. 

At that time the schooner "Jerome" was at Wood 
Island Light. That shows the difference of sailing in 
one da3\ 

How I Left the Coasting Trade. — In the 



SOMK OF MY COAvSTING TRIPS. 45 

summer of 1853 I was taken sick with fever and ague, 
and I got Capt. Thomas Bibber to handle the schooner 
for one or two trips. While he was running her I 
suddenly' made up my mind one night that I would try 
and get my living ashore hereafter; so as soon as able 
I called on Jones and Hammond, my owners, stated 
my business, and said that I wanted to sell them my 
interest in the "Jerome." They wanted me to recon- 
sider the matter, and offered to build me a larger vessel 
if I wanted it. But I told them my mind was made up 
for a change. Then they said that when I sold the}- 
wnshed me to sell their interest also ; so on the next 
arrival of the schooner at Portland she was sold to 
Captain Potter, a colored man. 

My QuickEvST and Slowest Coasting Trips. 
— Before leaving the account of m}^ coasting trips, it 
may interest my readers to learn about the speediest 
and the slowest made while master of the "Jerome." 

The quickest trip was from Philadelphia and 
return inside of ten days, with cargo each way. 

The longest was twenty-eight days and return. 
January 12, 1853, at 4 p. m., I was towed down Port- 
land Harbor by the steam tug "Tiger," the wdnd being 
northeast and a snow-storm coming on. Mr. George 
Dow was deck-hand on the "Tiger" at the time. 
Thinking that it would be a long storm I ran south- 
east instead of south for Cape Cod, so as to be to the 
windward if necessary to go out the South Channel. 
The next morning at daylight a high sea broke into 
the jib, and tore it out of the bolt rope. We ran under 
short sail the whole day, and at night hove to in South 
Channel, the sea running too high to scud. In the 
morning, about seven, we parted both bobsta3^s and 
came near losing our masts over the stern. 



46 CAPTAIN BEN'vS book. 

We immediatel}^ got a stay from the mainmast 
head to the windlass, hoisted the two-reef foresail, kept 
off for scudding, and furled the three-reef mainsail. Mr. 
Bishop Fuller, of Portland, was mate with me. He 
put a rope around his body, and, attended by the crew, 
fished up the bobstays to put on tackles, which was a 
very dangerous and risky job. He was wet to the 
skin. We kept on scudding until well by South Shoal. 
Then we hauled up for Long Island, hoping to get 
near it before the wind changed to the northwest. The 
gale and snow lasted for forty-eight hours, and wrecked 
several vessels on Cape Cod, and along the Jersey 
shore from Sandy Hook to Barnegat. 

When we got within thirty miles of Long Island 
the wind came off northwest with snow-squalls and 
blowing a heavy gale. We furled head sails and hove 
to under three-reef mainsail for a dead drift. The 
schooner was making good weather and was perfectly 
tight. The wake to the windward broke the heavy 
combers before they got to the vessel, and we only got 
light water from them. 

We drifted in this gale almost six days before it 
abated. Then we had baffling winds for two or three 
days, with vapor. By this time we were a long dis- 
tance out in the Gulf Stream. Then we had one calm 
day with the sun out bright, this being the only day 
for twenty-two that we got a sight of the sun. All 
this bad weather we had to cook in the cabin over a 
cylinder stove, and sit on the cabin floor to eat our 
meals. Then we took a southeast gale and rain storm ; 
and I made good use of it by scudding for Cape May 
under two-reef foresail. 

We arrived in Philadelphia after twenty-two days 
out from Portland ; discharged the cargo in one day, 



SOMK OF MV COASTING TRIPS. 47 

and the sail-maker made me a new jib by working 
night and day, so that I got my load the next forenoon 
and my new jib in the afternoon, and bent it going 
down by Red Bank in a northeast snow-storm. At 
dark we came to anchor off from Chester. The next 
morning the weather was clear and the wind north, 
giving us fair wind down the river and bay. Then the 
wind came west and gave us fair wind all the way 
home in four days. 

On arriving home I found that my folks had given 
me up as lost, as all the papers contained accounts of 
bad wrecks and big loss of life along the entire coast ; 
and they reminded me that my brother Samuel, who 
sailed for Cuba in the new bark "Martha Anna," Jan- 
uary 12, 1852, at 4 P.M. — just one year to a day and 
hour before I set sail — was never heard from. This 
coincidence aroused their fears for my safety. 

If I had run for Cape Cod the first night I should 
have been on a lee shore, as the wind canted out east 
the next day. Being to the windward I could go out 
of the channel with all safety, as I was about twenty- 
live miles from Cape Cod and Nantucket Shoals. I 
am satisfied if I had run for Cape Cod the first night 
I should have been among the wrecks reported that 
memorable week. 



CHAPTER V. 

IN WHTCH I BECOME A STEVEDORE AND SUBSEQUENTLY A PILOT. 

TAKING THE ALLAN STEAMSHIPS INTO PORT. PILOTING A 

BONDED VESSEL, AND THE TROUBLE IT BROUGHT. HOW I WAS 

UNJUSTLY PUT IN JAIL, AND MY EXPERIENCES THERE. AN 

APPEAL FOR LONG-DELAYED JUSTICE. SOME AMUSING EXPERI- 
ENCES. 

TT FTER leaving the coasting trade I went into 
company with William Lowry in the stevedoring 
business, our first outfit being two horses with coal 
tubs, etc. We worked one horse on a double whip, 
taking out from lOO to 125 tons of coal a day. The 
yearly total that came to Portland was 11,000 tons. 
After two years the firm dissolved and I went into 
business for myself. At that time sugar and molasses 
were hoisted out with the old-fashioned winch. Two 
or three years later oxen were used, and then horses ; 
my span being the first used for Chase & Sloan, the 
riggers. In those days riggers took out all cargoes of 
sugar and molasses. In 1856 I took Mr. Daniel Gould 
into company. We had a steam engine made in East 
Boston, set on wheels to haul around to the wharves 
and hoist coal and molasses. Gould attended to the 
shore business, and I started to piloting ships. 

I Become a Pieot. — My first winter of piloting 
was in a pleasure boat, with a cudd}^ forward and no 
deck aft, oAvned by Capt. Charles Harford, whose ser- 
vices I hired for the winter. He was brought up a 
Newfoundland sealer, and could stand more cold 
weather than any man I ever knew. The Allan steam- 



I bf:come a pilot. 49 

ships, "North American," "Anglo Saxon," and "In- 
dian," ran fortnightly that winter between Liverpool 
and Portland direct. I saw some rongh weather and 
hard work during the season, and had ni}- first, and 
last, experience in being hauled on board a steamship 
with the bowline. As I bumped against the sides the 
breath was nearly knocked out of ni}^ body. When I 
was hauled on board the steamship "North American" 
the ship rolled down and ducked me twice in the cold 
water before Chief Officer Eaton had men enough on 
the rope to haul me up. Finall}^ two men mounted 
the rail to light up while the men on deck took in the 
slack. I shouted, "Are you going to keep me here 
all day? " Since then I have preferred some other way 
to reach a ship's deck. It was not until the winter 
piloting was over, and the boat on the beach, that I 
discovered a big seam about three feet long in her 
bottom, with only tarred canvas and sheet lead tacked 
over it. IMy hair stood on end. If I had known the 
condition she was in, I would not have ventured outside 
of Portland Light in her. 

While out for one of these ships, the wind north- 
west, a gale, and cold, I stood out b}' White Head near 
night to see if there was an^^ signal on the Observa- 
tory. I was under very short sail so as to go slow and 
not ice up. Shortly I saw a row boat coming towards 
me. When near I saw Capt. Smith Hadlock, of Peaks 
Island. I asked him what he was out there in the cold 
for, and he said, "What are you out here for? " I told 
him I was out there to see if there was an^' signal out 
on the Observatory, as I was looking for a steamship. 
He told me why he came was that he thought my boat 
was in a crippled condition and came to render his 
assistance if needed. 






m 




■\IV TROUBLE WITH A BONDED vSTEAMSHIP. 5 1 

IVIy Troitble With a Bonded Steamship. — In 
the summer of 1857 I bought a schooner yacht named 
"The Alida," and fitted her for a pilot boat. Late in 
the summer of that year the British steamship, "Ante- 
lope," came to this port from Liverpool. Capt. David 
Jones came passenger, and piloted the ship into port, 
and when she went to sea I piloted her out. She came 
to Portland on a second trip and I piloted her in. She 
discharged and took in cargo. Before she left port a 
party of people from the Second Parish Church were 
invited to a dinner on board b}- the captain, who always 
appeared to be a verv religious man. He told me that 
he wanted to go into the stream that afternoon as he 
had a permit from the United States Marshal. About 
five o'clock it was high w^ater and I took her into the 
stream. The ship was attached on a former vo^-age 
for a coal debt of $1,000. ]\Ir. John H. Cox, Jr., was 
ship keeper at the time. Captain Smith told me that 
he expected his agent Avould bond her. 

After the tea-table was cleared, decanters and dif- 
ferent kinds of liquors were brought on. I was invited 
to partake, but declined. The evening was spent wait- 
ing for orders, but no boat came. I told the captain I 
would retire as I had been broken of mj- rest the night 
before. He told the waiters to show me a room. On 
leaving the saloon I left Captain Smith, Mr. Cox, and 
several passengers there. About two o'clock the next 
morning the captain roused me and said, " A boat has 
been off, the ship is bonded, and 3'ou can take her to 
sea when you see fit." I was soon on the pilot bridge, 
and in two hours we were steaming out of the harbor. 
When near Portland Light I gave the captain a card 
marked, "S. E. b}- S. ten miles distance from Portland 
Head." This course I gave all captains on going out 



52 CAPTAIN BP:n'vS BOOK. 

of the harbor. The captain then asked me where I 
would leave the ship. I told him a short distance out- 
side Portland Light. He asked me then if my boat 
was big enough to take the keeper ashore. I told him 
it was, and he said if it was not he would lower a boat 
and set him ashore at Portland Head. Not seeing Mr. 
Cox since the night before, I supposed he went ashore 
when the boat came off. I asked the captain where 
the keeper was, and he said he was below asleep. I 
said, " Have him called at once, for I shall leave in a 
few minutes." When Mr. Cox came on the bridge he 
asked me how it was that the ship was going out. I 
told him what the captain said when he came to my 
state-room. He then asked me where the captain was 
and I said, "There he is on the forward part of the 
house" 

Mr. Cox went to talk with him. While they M'cre 
in conversation I rang the bell to stop the engine. 
The ship then was on her course. I left the bridge 
and went to the ship gangway to see to the lowering 
of my boat, aud dropped astern to the ship ladder for 
leaving. I was in the boat some minutes before Mr. 
Cox came. While I was rowing him home, he said he 
could not see into it; that when he went on board his 
orders from Mr. Quimby were to stay there until he 
had written or verbal orders that the ship was clear. 

He thought it was all right until he got home ; 
but after seeing Mr. Quimby he found it was all wrong. 
I, as pilot, was indicted for aiding and abetting Captain 
Smith in taking the ship to sea, and put under bonds 
to appear at the June term of 1858. Mr. Edward Fox 
was ni}^ counsel. When the case came up for trial Mr. 
Fox said the case could be settled for $400. I told 
him that I took the ship out in good faith, and would 
not pay one dollar. 



I AM SENTENCED TO JAIL. 53- 

I Am Sentenced to Jail. — When Mr. Cox was 
on the stand in court, he stated that he repeatedly- for- 
bade Captain Willard to pilot the ship to sea. I say 
that statement was false. How could he repeatedlj^ 
forbid Captain Willard piloting the ship to sea, when 
he was in his state-room asleep until called to leave 
the ship with the pilot? 

M3' sentence by Judge Ware was sixty days in the 
county jail and $20 fine, imposed June 12, 1S58. Mv. 
Adams, now in the firm of Rollins & Adams, w.is jail 
keeper at the time. When the officer took me to his 
office, he said he would put me in the debtor cell, the 
best room in jail, with some four or five men who were 
in there for debt. At this time Cox and Williams were 
in jail for murdering all the crew of the brig "Albion 
Cooper." After being in jail two or three days Mr. 
Quimby came to Mr. Adams and told him that if 
Captain Willard wanted the liberty of the 3'ard he 
could have it; at the same time sa3ang that the mer- 
chants were making a great deal of talk about the case. 
Mr. Adams came to ni}- cell and told me that if I 
wished to have the liberty of the yard I could have it. 
I thanked him, and said that I did not wish to have 
any more liberty than those in the cell with me. The 
food was good, and plent}^ of it, but I had no use for 
it as my friends brought me enough for those in the 
cell with me. One day Capt. Thomas Libb}^ on arriv- 
ing from Cuba, on his way home from his brig brought 
to my cell a market basket full of oranges, pine-apples, 
and a box of cigars. When in jail about seven da3'S, 
Mr. Henry Goddard called to talk with me through 
the iron grates, and said to me that he had called on 
Mr. Quimby to know what he was going to do with 
Captain Willard when they moved the prisoners, as 



54 CAPTAIN BRn'vS book. 

the old jail was about to be torn down. Quimby said, 
"Auburn with the other United States prisoners." 
Mr. Goddard replied that it la}- with him to say 
whether Willard should go out to the work-house or 
to Auburn. If to the work-house his friends could go 
to see him, but if Quimby had fully made up his mind 
to send Willard to Auburn with Cox and Williams, the 
murderers, he could get a new bondsman before the 
sun went down that night. After some sharp talk 
Mr. Quimby decided that Willard could go to the 
work-house, and he then left his office and went to ni}- 
cell to inform me of the fact. 

Seven Weeks in the Work -House. — After 
spending ten days in the old jail, the county prisoners 
were transferred to the work-house. Cox and Williams, 
the murderers, being sent to Auburn. Mr. Adams told 
me I could step into the yard until he got the prisoners 
off, and he would take me out in his wagon. The pris- 
oners were all moved in hacks. As Cox and Williams 
got into one they seemed to me the roughest looking 
men that I ever saw. On arriving at the work-house 
I was introduced to Mr. Richard Webster, the keeper, 
who told me to take a seat in the office and when he 
had fixed the prisoners he would attend to me. When 
he came back he invited me upstairs, showed me a 
large front room, nicel}- furnished, and said that I could 
have that one. I told him that one was too nice for a 
prisoner, and that I preferred a smaller one where I 
could learn to paint ships and flags. He showed me a 
smaller one, Avhich I took, and said that if I had anj^ 
company to take them into the front room, and when 
the dinner bell rang to come to his table. In a few 
days Mr. Henry Goddard came out with a market 
basket his wife had filled with everything nice, for she 
thought I was eating the jail food. I thanked him and 



SEVEN WEEKvS IN THE WORK-HOUvSE. 55 

said that I was eating at Mr. Webster's table and would 
be pleased to see him any time, but he need not take 
the trouble to bring any food. I could not see why it 
was that Mr. Goddard and Mr. Webster took such an 
interest in an entire stranger. When the overseers 
visited the house for their monthly suppers, they vis- 
ited my room and we had a social smoke, and the}' 
invited me to dine with them. Mr. Samuel Carleton 
was one of the overseers at that time. Many captains 
and merchants came out to visit me. When Mrs. 
Webster wanted a nice pigeon dinner, I found an old 
flint-lock gun, cleaned it up, and put a row of corn out 
in the back yard. The pigeons came after the corn in 
great numbers, and I fired and picked up sixteen dead 
ones. A few da^'S later seven or eight prisoners broke 
out of the House of Correction and all escaped to the 
woods. The police and constables were hunting day 
and night and succeeded in capturing some. Mr. 
\\'illiam Huse called at the house and wanted me to 
go into the countr\' with him. I told him that I was 
a prisoner and could not leave. He said that he had 
seen Mr. Webster and that I could go if I wished. 
Mr. Webster readily consented, saying that he was not 
afraid of m^- running away. So we started out, going 
as far as Baldwin the first night, which we spent at a 
tavern there. The next da}- we met a farmer, who had 
given two fellows their breakfast that morning, whose 
description tallied with that of two confidence men 
from Boston who were among the escaped fugitives. 
We traced the fugitives to North Berwick, and found 
that they had taken the westward train. Mr. Huse 
telegraphed to the Boston police, but the}- failed to 
secure the men. 

After my return to the work-house Mr. Webster 
told me I might send for my wife. I did so, and she 



56 CAPTAIN BKn'S book. 

was with me some three weeks. While there Mr. 
Cheney, the turnkey, lost his wife and had to be awa}' 
a few days. So Mr. Webster got me to take his place. 
At that time there were thirt3'-two prisoners in the 
house. On the Fourth of July, there being a great 
celebration in Portland and a great deal going on up 
on Munjo}' Hill, Mr. Webster invited me to ride into 
the city with him. I told him that I did not think it 
would do for me to come in as I might meet some of 
the prosecuting officers. He said that it would be all 
right as long as he was with me. While driving up 
Congress Street on to Munjoj^ Hill we met Mr. George 
F. Shepley coming down. He looked at me very 
sharply, and I said to Mr. Webster that he would hear 
from Shepley. The next day he did receive a letter 
from him with orders to keep Willard close as he was 
seen in the cit}^ the day before. When my time 
expired I paid the $20 fine and left for home. 

I wish to say to Mr. Cox, ship keeper, that when 
he is about to leave this world, to make a full state- 
ment of the facts from the time he went on board the 
ship "Antelope " until he left, and to publish that state- 
ment in the daily papers so that my friends may see 
it, as I may not be here at that time. 

Capt. David Jones was intimately acquainted with 
Capt. John Smith, and corresponded with him after his 
arrival at Liverpool. In a letter from Captain Smith 
he said that the pilot took the ship to sea ignorant of 
the true facts, and that he (Smith) took that course to 
get his ship clear. Mr. Jones had the contents of that 
letter printed in the daily papers. Had I known the 
true facts of the case, I could have ver}^ easily left the 
ship after giving the captain his course, and let him 
wake the keeper and set him ashore with the ship's 
boat at Portland Head. 



CHAPTER VI. 

IN WHICH A SWORD FISH IS HARPOONED. IT PROVES A NOVELTY 

IN PORTLAND. HOW I PILOl'ED A DISABLED STEAMER INI'O 

PORT. THE PERILOUS EXPERIENCE OF A PILOT. PULLINCJ 

DROWNINC; MEN OUT OF THE WATER. A FAMOUS CAMPING- 
OUT CLUB. HEN HAWKS FOR DINNER. THE FATHER OF THE 

FINNAN HADDIE INDUSTRY AND HIS SKILL AT (JUOITS. 

^I^HE summer of 1S5S I caught my first sword-fish 
iu a lapped-strcak, centreboard sail-boat, fourteen 
feet long. Capt. B. F. Willard, a cousin, was with me. 
We went to Rock Cod Ledge to catch mackerel, taking 
harpoon, lance, and line with us. While on the ledge, 
fishing, we saw a fin, supposed it to be a shark, made 
sail and started for it. When I got nearer I saw that 
it was no shark, but a sword-fish. He saw us, and 
started awa}'. I threw the harpoon and hit him in a 
good place, giving him all the line and holding on to 
the end. The sail was rolled up and taken dowm, the 
fish towing the boat after him. After some time he 
got tired and we began to haul on him slowl}^ coiling 
the line into the tub carefully as we hauled. When 
we got him in sight of the boat he started awa}' and 
we gave him line, clear to the end again. Then I saw 
his sword, and he was the most wicked looking fish 
that I ever put eyes on. In fact, I was much afraid he 
would come through the boat. We did not haul on 
him again for nearly an hour. As he lay motionless 
on the bottom we supposed he was dead, and hauled 
him up carefully. When alongside and the gaff in 
him, I took the lance and lanced him four or five times 



MY FIRST vS WORD-FISH. 59 

to make sure lie was dead. We had all that we could 
do to get him into the boat. On arriving honie we 
took him into J\Ir. K. D. Atwood's fish market to 
exhibit. When he was measured he was seventeen 
feet in length. This was the first sword-fish I ever 
saw landed in Portland. He was on exhibition two 
days. The market was crowded most of the time to 
see the monster. The two days brought us in $167 in 
ten-cent pieces. Then he was skinned and mounted. 
At that time there were not ten pounds of that kind of 
meat sold, as people were not acquainted with it. I 
would, when musters were in the cit}', get a tent of 
]\Ir. Fowler, the sail-maker, and put it on exhibition, 
with a life-size painting of the fish on the outside of 
the tent. I would take from $40 to $50 a dav. After 
keeping it two years, I sold the fish for $25. 

How I PiLOTFD THE " NoRTH AMERICAN " IN. — 

In the winter of 1858-59 it was severely cold. I was 
then on the pilot boat "Alida." She set low in the 
water, her draft was six feet, and she was a good, safe 
boat, but ver}' wet in a strong breeze. I had one 
particularly hard trip in her while looking for the 
steamship "North American," Captain McMaster, from 
Liverpool. After being out seven days and nights my 
man was taken sick, and I came to land him, shipping 
Capt. B. F. Willard in his place. While doing this. 
Captain Crawford, port captain of the Allan line, 
brought me a telegram that the steamship had touched 
at Halifax and was due here. In coming out she had 
run into Cape Race and stove a hole in her bow, the 
forward compartment filling. We at once turned the 
boat about and went outside, staying there as long as 
we could. The vapor became so thick that we could 
not see Portland Light, and the boat iced up badly ; so 



6o CAPTAIN BRn'S book. 

we stood inside Ram Island Ledge, where the island 
made some shelter, and anchored. The wind was north 
northeast and blowing very heavy. 

x\bout midnight our anchor rope chafed off and it 
took us some little time to get our heavy clothing on. 
We got forward and hauled in the rope. By this time 
we were drifting out by the ledge, where the sea was 
running sharp. We hoisted the head of the jib, wore 
around and hoisted close-reefed mainsail, and steered 
in for Bangs Island. The vapor was so thick we could 
not see three boats' length. While steering in, the 
big anchor was got ready and one end of the line made 
fast round the foremast. When breakers were sighted 
near the Point we luffed to, anchored, and furled the 
sail. I did not dare to go inside the Point for fear of 
the heavy drift ice coming down the bay. The night 
being ver}' cold, we took one-hour watclies. The boat 
was dipping her bowsprit and making ice ver}^ fast, 
and the man on deck kept bus^^ breaking it off. It 
was B. J. Willard on the starboard watch and B. F. 
Willard on the port, and the coffee kept hot all night. 
We had no sleep, but went below by turns long enough 
to get warm. 

Before daylight the wind canted in and the water 
became smooth. At daybreak the boat was a sight to 
see; she had settled over two feet by the head, and her 
bowsprit, jib, foot ropes, bobstay, and bowsprit guys 
were one solid mass of ice. By nine o'clock the vapor 
had so settled that we could see the top of Portland 
Head Light. Soon after, my brother William, who 
was towing out a brig with the tow-boat "Tiger," 
steamed over to me and said there was no clear water 
inside Bangs Island. As my boat was unmanageable, 
I towed in with him. 



HOW I PILOTED THP: " NORTH AME;riCAn" IX. 6l 

On arrival in town I went to Captain Crawford 
and reported it impossible to sta^- out any longer in 
the pilot boat; that the only way was to watch from 
the Observatory da}- and night until the ship was 
sighted. As he agreed with me I took rockets and 
blue lights to the tug boat and hired a man to watch 
from the Observatory the first night, introducing him 
to Mr. Moody, who was always ready to render any 
kindness in his power. In the morning I went to 
relieve ni}- watchman ; and about ten o'clock, the vapor 
having settled, I sighted the ship's flag above the 
woods on Bangs Island. Then I ran for the tug boat, 
and the crew happening to be there we started off at 
once. After passing Ram Island Ledge we ran into 
thick vapor, and, though I knew about the direction to 
go, I could not tell whether the vessel was under wa}' or 
anchored. Finally we heard a gun, but the report was 
confusing. When the port gun, toward us, was fired, 
it would sound close by ; but the starboard gun sounded 
a long distance away, as though the ship were making 
off. However, we kept on running for the sound and 
blowing our whistle, and when within two miles of 
Cod Ledge found the ship at anchor in quite deep 
water. Captain McMaster said he never was so glad 
to see any man in his life as he was to see me, as he 
had begun to be deeph^ troubled over the danger he 
was in, and signs of a big snow-storm were multipl}^- 
ing. We steamed in slowl}-, on account of the press- 
ure of water against the bulkhead. I took my station 
at the foretop to look over the vapor if possible. When 
within half a mile of Ram Island the tops of the trees 
on Bangs Island could be seen, as well as Portland 
Head Light. When I came down to the pilot bridge 
both my ears were frozen. It began to snow just as 
we reached the wharf. 



62 CAPTAIN ben's BOOK. 

After the cargo was discharged the ship went to 
Portsmouth Navy Yard dock for repairs, and I went 
with her. On the wa}' there the water was two feet 
higher in the forward compartment tlian outside the 
ship. Old sails were stuck in the forepeak and shored 
up with spars to stop some of the pressure of water. 
When in the dry-dock she showed where she hit the 
bluff at Cape Race ; it was the fourteen-feet mark on 
the cut-water, and from there round the forefoot. Fif- 
teen feet of the keel had slewed off sideways, driving 
the cut-water into the ship some three feet. Her bow- 
sprit struck the cliff at the same time. 

Saving a Man From Drowning. — One da^^, 
while walking along Commercial Street, I saw several 
men running for Burnham's Wharf, and hastened there 
to see what the trouble was. The wharf was covered 
with men looking down into the dock. I crowded 
through them, and looking down I saw a man drown- 
ing. I immediately pulled off m^^ hat and coat and 
jumped in, feet first, behind him. It being low tide 
and about seven feet of water, I stuck in the mud, but 
kicked myself out and came up. When I got to the 
surface he was just sinking. I caught hold of his 
collar and swam with him up to the piling. He had 
just life enough left to hold on to the piling with both 
arms. I put one arm on the next pile and held him 
up with the other, and in a few minutes a boat came 
with two men from the next wharf. The man was well 
filled up with salt water and something stronger, I 
judged by the smell. I immediately went to work on 
him, holding his head down for a few seconds for the 
water to run out, and then holding it up for him to 
breathe. While I was doing this the men were rowing 
the boat around to Maine Wharf steps. When he got 



SAVING A MAN FROINI DROWNICx. 63 

on the wharf he was able to walk with the assistance 
of his friends. This was the second man that I have 
saved from drowning by jumping overboard after them, 
and holding them up until a boat came to ni}^ assist- 
ance. In all cases you must keep behind drowning 
men, as they will grapple an^'thing that they can get 
hold of, and if they once get hold of you it will be 
impossible for you to swim; in that case both will sink 
at once. I do not approve of rolling a person on a 
barrel to get the water out of him, as the water will 
rush into the throat and strangle him. The life saving 
station has the best method of treating such cases. 

The "Nkttlh" and Her FortunEvS. — In the 
fall of 1859 I sold my pilot boat, "Alida," went to 
Boston, and bought the schooner yacht "Nettle"; she 
being a much larger and safer one than the "Alida," 
and a good sailor. I fitted her up for a pilot boat and 
put "No. i" in her mainsail. I used her for piloting 
in the winter and pleasure parties to the islands in the 
summer, as well as parties for deep-sea fishing. I had 
a large, safe dorj^ built, that would seat twenty-three 
persons, to land at the islands. This boat came in use 
for catching big fish. In the warm weather I had all 
the business that I could attend to. Mr. Daniel Gould, 
my partner, meantime looked after the stevedoring, 
which was beginning to increase. I have seen, from 
sunrise to sunset, sixteen cargoes of molasses arrive 
in the harbor from Cuba. At that time they began to 
lay the railroad tracks down on the wharves and fill 
them with lumber and shook so \\'e could not work on 
wheels. Some time later, by advice of ]Mr. John B. 
Curtis, I built a scow and put a hoisting engine in it 
and all the ecjuipments to discharge a vessel. That 
proved a big success, because it could go anywhere a 



64 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

vessel did. As business increased, the steam hoisters 
increased. At the present time nearl}- all the hoisting 
is done by steam; an average day's work by steam and 
one gang being 300 tons of coal per day. 

In the summer of i860 arrivals of coal and salt 
were on the fast increase, and the wharves were well 
filled up with scjuare-rigged vessels, bringing cargoes 
and taking them away. It was nothing unusual to 
see, at that time, several barks and brigs beating out 
or in the harbor as the case might be. That summer 
the mackerel fishermen were getting good fares, and 
there was still good mackerel fishing in Casco Bay. 
Late in the season of i860 I took several mackerel 
parties out to Rock Cod Ledge, where they had abun- 
dant success. 

A Fa]\ious Camping-Out Club. — In the summer 
of 186 1 I took the Giojelliere Club to Jewell's Island 
(giojelliere is Italian for jeweler) to camp out for two 
weeks, a trip that was repeated for four seasons. The 
following were the club members : G. A. Thomas, 
John L. Shaw, George M. Howe, Thomas McEwan, 
Alex D. Reeves, Charles H. Sawyer, John K. Paine, 
Sewall W. Thrasher, Charles Carlton, William H. 
Dennett, William W. Colby, Jarvis Stevens, Waldstein 
Phillips, Sumner C. Fernald. The pilot boat " Nettle " 
was kept in attendance while they were in camp. In 
pleasant weather the boat was used after breakfast for 
deep-sea fishing. Plenty of cod and mackerel were 
caught for their own use. One trip on Rock Cod 
Ledge we sighted a large sword-fish, harpooned him, 
and in about half an hour had him on board. I con- 
sider Jewell's Island tlie best place for camping out 
there is in Casco Bay ; plenty of fine clams near the 
camping-ground, and lots of nice eggs, milk, and but- 
ter from a farm near at hand. 



66 CAPTAIN BKn'vS book. 

Captain Chase, the owner of the island, was ver}^ 
kind to ns, and took particular pride in pointing out 
the places where it was reported people had dug up 
great treasures buried by Captain Kidd, the famous 
pirate ; but all the digging we did was for clams — they 
were rich enough for us. The club had a highly orig- 
inal code of rules ; one of them forbidding all sleep 
the last night of the stay, and another commanding 
the kindling of a big bonfire on that occasion. Captain 
Chase gave us all the trees we wanted for the purpose. 
One day each season was set apart for shooting on the 
other islands; sandpeeps and plovers being in especial 
demand. All the game, whatever it might be, had to 
be cooked. I brought in a hen hawk one time. The 
bird looked nice and brown when brought to the table. 
Being the man who shot it I had to do the carving, 
but my invitation to partake met with dead silence. 
Nobody seemed to be hankering for hen hawk. It 
looked so dainty that I was tempted, and cut a piece 
out of the breast. When I put my teeth into the slice 
a most horrible oil seemed to come up round them. I 
did not get the bad taste out of my mouth for a month. 
The last night was always given up to frolic ; and 
blacking the faces of the drowsy folks, putting raw 
clams in their boots, and similar sinful games were 
indulged in by the more mischievous ones. 

There was a great deal of quoit pitching during 
the camping out; four pounders being thrown sixty- 
three feet by the experts. Mr. Thomas McEwan ( the 
first man to smoke finnan baddies in Portland and 
the originator of that flourishing industry here) was 
the champion pla^'er and I was his partner. Many 
times he was challenged by his Scotch friends to con- 
tests of skill with the quoits, and he invariably won. 



CHAPTER VII. 

PORTLAND HARBOR IN WAR TIMIi. MUCH TANCILED RED TAPE. 

RUSHING ASSOCIATED PRESS NEWS TO THE SHORE. PERILOUS 

EXPERIENCE OF A COAST PILOT. THE CLOSE SHAVE OF THE 

"ANGLO SAXON." SUDDEN DEATH OF ]\IY FATHER. 

TN the fall of 1861, it being war time and particular 
caution needed, "Sir. J. L. Farmer and myself went 
to Fort Preble to see the captain in charge of the 
fort in order to fix signals so the mail steamships 
could pass on up to the city. They were fixed at five 
whistles of five seconds each. The fort was to give 
the ship one blue light ; the ship to respond with one 
whistle and pass on. If no blue light was given, the 
order was to anchor the ship and go on shore to report. 
This went on well for a time. The whistle was to be 
given when abreast of the wharf at Bangs Island. 

One bitter cold night I was taking in one of the 
mail ships and got no answer to the whistle; so 
anchored the ship, lowered the boat, and went to the 
fort. The wind was ver}^ strong and cold. We hailed 
the sentinel. After waiting some ten minutes, an 
officer and a few men came down to the boat, asking 
all manner of cjuestions. The officer wanted to know 
why I did not give proper signals. I told him I gave 
the signals arranged before going to the ship, and 
waited for the fort signal to pass; but no signal was 
given. He then gave me orders to pass. The next 
day I called on the captain at Fort Preble and stated 
ni3' case. The fact was the sentinel was asleep, and he 
was punished for it. Then the signals were changed. 



68 CAPTAIN BEn'vS book. 

The same whistles were given, and if I got no answer 
I was to pass on. If I got a bine light I was to anchor 
the ship and report to the fort. That, too, worked well 
for a time, as they could sleep and the ship pass up to 
the wharf. A little later I was taking a mail ship in, 
got b}' the fort, and was nearly in range of Fort Gorges, 
when Fort Preble sent a cannon ball across our bow and 
very near us. As we heard it scream, going through 
the air, the captain of the ship asked if they were going 
to shoot us. I told him that I gave the proper signal. 
The ship was then anchored. The officer heard the 
chain running out, luckily for us, as he might have 
kept on firing. The boat was lowered, and, lantern in 
hand, we landed. I walked up the wharf and passing 
the wood pile saw the flash of a musket. I began to 
think my last hour had come. I understood some time 
afterwards that the gun was fired to bring the guard. 
The sentinel cried, " Halt." I did so and waited some 
time in the cold. Finall\' an officer and ten men came 
in sight with a lantern. When within ten feet of me 
he halted his men, and asked, "Who comes there," or 
something like it. I said, " WiUard, the pilot." Then 
he asked me why I did not give the signal. I told him 
I gave the signal as arranged by his captain. After a 
lot more questions he let us pass, though at one time 
he thought of putting a squad of men on board. The 
next day I called on the fort captain and a new code of 
signals was arranged, which worked very well until 
transports came for government stores to take South. 
Then there was no end of trouble. The first transport 
I boarded had but one rusty old gun that we were 
obliged to "squib out" to see if it would work; and 
several that followed had no guns at all. So we went 
back to whistles, and these had to be changed often for 



THE BITTER EXPERIENCE OF A PILOT. 69 

fear the Confederates would learn the code. One of the 
ships that came for government supplies was the well- 
known "Great Republic." When mailships came into 
the harbor, night or day ( this was before the Atlantic 
cable began to work), I took the associated dispatches, 
fastened them to a line and lowered it from the bridge 
to a boat provided by Mr. Ira Berry for the purpose; 
his design being to save all the time possible in getting 
the news on the wires to New York. He could not 
wait for the ship to dock. 

The Bitter Experience of a Pilot. — The 
life of a pilot is but a hard one at its best, and his 
perils are many. One day I took the steamship "In- 
dian," Captain Jones, out, and the weather being calm 
concluded not to bother the tug, but return alone in my 
little boat. But by the time we were passing Portland 
Head a high sea and wind rose and it became very 
rough. When the ship was a safe distance outside she 
hove to so that I might leave. The boat was lowered 
and I watched nij' chance to drop into her. It came 
and I sheered off from the ship's side, singing out to 
her people to let go of my bow painter; but happening 
to look over m^^ shoulder I saw the bow line becoming 
taut. Coming on top of a sea at the same time the 
boat rolled over bottom up, with me under it and the 
water gurgling in my ears. The next sea turned her 
right side up and I called to haul up, watching my 
chance to seize the ship ladder. In this I succeeded, 
and my boat was hauled up b}^ the bow line. Captain 
Jones wanted me to go across to Liverpool with him, 
insisting that my boat could never live in that sea. But 
I told him to stop the ship and head for the Two Lights. 
At this time we were abreast Bell Rock. He ordered 
a life-preserver put in the boat, and pressed a stiff horn 



yo CAPTAIN BKn'vS book. 

of brand}^ on me, but the latter I declined, telling him 
that if I was going to be drowned I wanted to die 
sober. 

This time, though with difhculty, I cleared the 
ship's side safely, and started for home. The sea was 
running very high as the passengers crowded to the 
rail to watch my course, and the captain sent some men 
into the rigging for a lookout. I did not have to row 
much as the wind and high sea drove me on even faster 
than I wished to go. When high combers came I had to 
back water with both oars, to steady the boat from run- 
ning too fast and from broaching. This had to be done 
until Bangs Island Point was reached. There I got 
smooth water and pulled hard for Simonton's Cove. It 
was nearl}^ dark when I reached there, thoroughly 
chilled, and went to my father's house to get warm and 
pass the night. 

I think that Captain Jones was as fine a captain as 
ever walked a ship's deck. He was a great favorite 
among his passengers, and always had good luck on 
quick passages. Later, when he was in the steamship 
"Hungarian," from Liverpool to Portland, I was out 
looking for his ship some three or four da^-s, and ex- 
pecting to see her come in sight every moment. At 
the end of the fourth day I saw the steam tug " Uncle 
Sam," with ni}^ brother William, coming to bring me 
the news that the ship " Hungarian," with all hands, 
was lost on Cape Sable. 

The Close Shave of the "Anglo Saxon." — One 
time I was out looking for the steamship "Anglo Saxon," 
and had my brother Henry and Capt. Granville Lowell 
with me. We were out about seven days and nights. 
The ship was making a long passage. I felt sure that 
she would heave in sight the seventh night, as she had 



THE CLOSE SHAVE OF THE "aNGEO SAXON." 7 1 

favorable weather for the last two or three daj'S. It 
was a dark night and stormv, and the wind north 
northeast, bnt the lights could be seen plainly. About 
midnight a light was sighted outside. As it came 
nearer we thought it must be the steamship as the 
light was brighter than on sailing vessels. Thinking 
it strange she sent up no rockets or blue lights, we 
burnt a blue light; but got no answer. As she got 
nearer we could see that it was the "Anglo Saxon" with- 
out doubt. We tacked ship and went to burning blue 
lights and then a torch ; the torch being made of 
oakum saturated with kerosene and tied to a boat hook. 

The ship was running away from us fast. Though 
we had rockets aboard, the spra}- was coming over the 
pilot boat so fast we could not use them. After a 
while we attracted attention and the ship stopped. At 
that time all ships ran for Portland Head Light, bear- 
ing northwest by north, but the " Anglo vSaxon " was 
drifting fast for Trundy's Reef Shoal, as I found by 
taking the bearing of the light when near her stern. I 
leaped on board, fearing every moment that she would 
strike bottom, and sang out at the top of ni}' voice, 
"Hard to port and full speed ahead." Then I ran to 
the pilot bridge, telling the captain that the vessel 
might strike any instant, as she was so near the ledge 
I could not tell where the buo}^ was. I still anxiously 
watched the compass, and in a few minutes she changed 
her bearing for Portland Head and I felt safe. Then 
I drew a long breath, as I let the captain know it was 
the closest shave I ever saw a ship in and get out safe. 

When asked wh}^ he did not send up rockets while 
approaching, the captain replied that it was so rough 
he didn't think the pilot boat would be out such a 
night. He supposed the blue light was a ship signal- 



72 CAPTAIN ben's BOOK. 

iiig for a pilot, and thought he was heading off. I 
told him I did not wonder he thought so, for he passed 
me like a greyhound. Seeing the lights in the saloon 
convinced me that it was the "Anglo Saxon," no other 
ship being due at that time. She was getting short of 
coal, had steamed slowly for one or two days, and was 
using up all the spare spars, fenders, and steerage 
berths. We finally got the ship to the city and docked 
her safely. She had just a wheelbarrow full of coal 
left on reaching port. 

I stayed on the wharf the rest of the night looking- 
for the pilot boat and feeling a good deal worried. As 
she could only fetch Pond Cove or the Black Rocks on 
the first tack I feared she would have a perilous time. 
A little after daybreak I saw her coming round Spring 
Point. It seems that she came near running into 
Trundy's Reef buoy, the main boom just swinging over 
it. She was five hours beating from the Black Rocks 
b}' Portland Head. When heading off she would dive 
into the sea up to the foremast, and it was impossible 
to make much headwa}^ in such high seas; but the 
boat did not fail to tack every time they wanted it to. 
Captain Lowell suggested to my brother Henry to run 
out round the cape and go to Wood Island, but Henry 
refused, saying that if worst came to worst he would 
run her ashore in Alewive Cove. 

My Father's Sudden Death.;— Mj^ father was 
a fisherman all his life, and went upon the water nearh' 
ever}^ suitable day. He was noted for his unusual 
good judgment about running in thick weather. On 
the morning of June 3, 1863, he went from Simonton's 
Cove to Richmond Island, in a Hampton boat, with a 
small boy as companion, to get bait. The two stayed 
at the island all night, and next morning went to 



MY FATHER'vS vSUDDEN DKATH. 73 

the fisliing grounds, where they set their trawls and 
anchored their boat for hand-line fishing. After fishing 
for a time the boy hooked a halibut. Father went for- 
ward to handle the fish, the boy put the gaff" in, and 
between the two they hauled it into the boat. There it 
began to struggle, and as my father bent over to finish 
it he fell back into the boat dead. 

The boy shouted to Mr. John Stillwell, who was 
fishing in a boat quite a distance from them. Mr. Still- 
well, seeing onl}^ one man in the boat where a moment 
before he had seen two, thought something was wrong 
and hastened to lend assistance. As the boy felt confi- 
dent of his ability to bring the boat in unaided after 
the mast was set, and haul the trawl too, Mr. Stillwell 
took father in his own boat and brought him to the 
cove. When he arrived at the beach I happened to be 
there. The doctor, who was hastily summoned, pro- 
nounced the cause of death to be the bursting of a 
blood vessel on the brain. 

The boy, who is now Mr. Edward Field, Superin- 
tendent of Government Fortifications at Portland Head, 
brought his boat in safel}-, and received many a com- 
pliment, as well as something more substantial, for his 
presence of mind and the skill he displayed. 



CHAPTER YIII. 

CAPTURE OF THE "CALEB CUSHINc;" AND THE "ARCHER" P.V CON- 
FEDERATE PRIVATEERS. THE BOLD Al TEMPI' IN PORTLAND 

HARBOR. A DAY OF KXCLTEiMEN'T IN THE CITY. SOLDIERS AND 

CITIZENS TO THE RESCUE. BLOWINO UP OF THE "CUSHINO" 

AND RECAI'TURE OF THE "ARCHER." CONFEDERATE PRISONERS 

IN FORT PREBLE. HOW DANIEL COULD CAME TO HIS DEAIH. 

/"\N the morning of the 27th of June, 1S63, the city 
was thrown into great commotion by the news that 
the revenne cntter "Caleb Cushing" had been taken 
ont of the harbor the night before b\' Lieutenant Reed, 
of the Confederate Navy, and his crew of twenty-one, 
and that she had been sighted off Green Island by the 
Observatory people. 

The story of the daring seizure and subsequent 
recapture is familiar to those acquainted with the his- 
tory of the Civil W ar, but may be new to some of my 
readers- Lieut. C. W. Reed, a commissioned officer of 
the Confederate Navy, was commander of the privateer 
"Tacony," which had committed many depredations on 
the northern coast and high seas, and was laden with 
considerable spoil. Learning that Federal cruisers 
were after him, and fearing recognition as his vessel 
had become prett}^ well known, Lieutenant Reed, after 
capturing the schooner "Archer," of Southport, on the 
24th of June, transferred everj^thing to her and burned 
the "Tacony." The "Archer" was then headed for 
Portland, for the purpose of cutting out the "Cush- 
ing," then lying in the stream, and destroying the 
uncompleted Ihiited States gunboats " Pontoone" and 



O rn 



O > 




^6 CAPTAIN BKn'S book. 

"Agawam," moored at Franklin Wharf, as well as 
other shipping that might be found in the harbor. 

While on the way two Falmouth fishermen, x\lbert 
P. Bibber and Elbridge Titcomb, who wTre hauling 
their trawl in a small boat about eight miles to the 
southeast of Damariscove Island, were captured b}^ 
Reed, whose intention was to use them as pilots; l)ut 
they refused to so serve and were put in confinement. 
About sunset the "Archer" came to harbor to the east- 
ward of Pomeroy's Rock, off Fish Point. At this place 
the privateer remained, waiting for the opportunity- to 
carry the audacious design into execution. The clear- 
ness of the night, it is believed, deterred them from 
accomplishing the whole of their daring purpose. 

The Daring Attempt in Portland Harbor. 
— About two o'clock in the morning a detachment from 
the "Archer" approached the "Gushing" with muffled 
oars, and boarded her, gagging and ironing the watch. 
Lieutenant Davenport, the officer in charge, w^as seized 
as soon as he came on deck, and the crew, about twenty 
in number, placed in irons. The cutter was then 
towed out of the harbor by the way of Hussey's Sound, 
thus avoiding the forts, followed by the "Archer." 
Reed passed through the passage between Cow Island 
and Hog Island, standing out to sea b}- Green Island. 
At ten o'clock in the morning he was about fifteen 
miles from the city, when the wind died away and left 
him becalmed. 

Portland to thp: REvScue. — On hearing of the 
audacious attempt all Portland was in arms, and ener- 
getic measures were taken by Maj'or McClellan and 
Customs Collector Jewett. Steamers in the harbor 
were pressed into service and volunteers enrolled. I 
learned that the Boston steamer " Forest City," Capt- 




CAPT. JOHN LISCOMB, STEAMER "FOREST CITY," JUN 



E 27, 1863. 



78 CAPTAIN BP:n'S book. 

John Liscomb, was getting read}- to go to the rescue, 
and so went down to the boat. Captain Liscomb said he 
was getting up steam and going over to Fort Preble to 
get men and guns. It being low tide the steamer could 
not get up to the wharf, and I suggested that I had a 
large boat and would take whatever was wanted to the 
steamer. He readily closed with the offer and told me 
to take the boat along. 

On arriving near the fort, a large number of men 
from the regulars were boated off with rifles, and spare 
muskets furnished to the volunteers. Two brass field 
pieces \vere also taken on board. Then we started for 
the captured cutter. On passing Bangs Island Point, 
I went to the foremast head with opera glasses and 
could make her out in the haze a long distance off. 
There was a light wind to the eastward and she was 
headed to the south. We at once cleared for action. 

When within a mile and a half of the cutter we 
were in her wake, running straight for her. Then she 
tacked, and we could see her men getting the midship 
pivot gun ready. Captain L-iscomb ported his helm and 
stood to the west. Presently the gun was discharged, 
and the shot, a thirty-two pounder, came skipping over 
the water, falling just short of the steamer. It was a 
good line shot. At this time the New York boat 
" Chesapeake," which had also been pressed into service, 
and was swarming with armed men, came up. Just then 
the wind died awaj- to a calm, and it became evident 
that the cutter could not be handled by her captors. 
It was decided to board her, and I manned the big boat 
with rifles and put off. 

When within a hundred yards of the cutter, we 
saw three boats put off, and, at the same time, flames 
coming out of her companion way. We at once held 
back, fearing that the magazine would explode. My 



BLOWING UP THE CALP:b CUSHING." 79 

men were ver}^ anxious to use their rifles on the escap- 
ing privateers. Capt. George Willard was in the bow, 
and I saw him leveling his gun at them, sa\'ing that 
he "wanted one." I ordered him to stop, pointing to a 
white hankerchief on a boat hook, sticking up in the 
bow of the nearest boat, and telling him that it was a 
flag of truce, or signal of surrender, which must not be 
fired upon ; but it was with the utmost difficulty that 
I could restrain my men. While the men were tum- 
bling over the ship's side, I saw Capt. Albert Bibber 
among them. The "Forest City" picked him up, 
and he told them where the "Archer" was. The 
steamer at once started for the "Archer " and soon 
captured her, finding Bob Mullins, a New Orleans 
Confederate, in charge. 

Blowing up the "Caleb Cushing." — Meanwhile 
the cutter blew up, sinking stern first in thirt^^-three 
fathoms of water. After sinking, the spars came up 
with the burnt rigging attached. The wreck was soon 
surrounded by the steamers "Forest City" and "Ches- 
apeake," the tugs " Uncle Sam " and " Tiger," and the 
fishing schooner " E. A. Williams." All the men in 
the boats were captured and landed at Fort Preble, 
from whence they were transferred to Fort Warren in 
Boston Harbor, and exchanged some sixteen months 
later. We learned from them that the}' onlv found one 
thirty-two pound shot in the locker, and were obliged 
to load afterwards with spikes and old iron kettles, 
which they broke up. As we Avere right astern of 
them, they failed by one or two points to train the 
gun on us. The shot that came nearest to us fell 
short about twenty ^^ards. 

When I got to Custom House Wharf, I met Lieu- 
tenant Davenport, of the cutter, who wanted a gang of 



8o CAPTAIN BKn'vS book. 

men to discharge the ''Archer," as what goods she had 
were going to the Custom Honse for storage ; so I put 
a gang on the vessel. My partner, Daniel Gould, also 
had men on the wharf loading truck teams, and was 
directing their movements. ]\Iy gang found about 
twenty-five loaded muskets in the salt room ; and, on 
asking the lieutenant what disposition to make of 
them, we were told to put them on the port side, 
muzzle to the brake of the quarter-deck. In discharg- 
ing the "Archer," we found chests, trunks, valises, 
clothes-bags, chronometers, and spy-glasses, part of the 
plunder of ships captured by the privateers. There 
was a great deal of excitement in the city, many threats 
were made against the prisoners, and the wharves were 
crowded with throngs of curious people. Lieutenant 
Davenport placed a guard alongside the vessel to 
keep strangers from going on board; but, still, some 
slipped by. 

The Lamentable Death of Daniel Gould. — 
While my men were busy passing things out to the 
wharf, a longshoreman, named John Sidney, slipped 
aboard unnoticed by the guard. Wandering about to 
gratify his curiosity, he picked up a musket and care- 
lessly cocked it; thinking, as so many foolish men 
before and since have thought under similar circum- 
stances, that it was unloaded. It was high water at 
the time and the vessel was level with the wharf. He 
pulled the trigger and discharged the musket, the ball 
entering Mr. Daniel Gould's thigh, passing through 
both legs and seriously wounding a man near b}-. Mr. 
Gould was at once taken home and amputation decided 
necessary by the doctors. He died under the knife — 
the only man who lost his life during the whole affair 
of the "Gushing." Sidney was arrested and put in 
jail. I was called upon by the city marshal to give 



THK LAT^IKNTABLE DEATH OF DANIEL GOULD. 8 1 

111}' Opinion of the shooting, and told him that I knew 
Sidney well ; that the man had worked for both Mr. 
Gould and myself; that he was of kindly disposition, 
and that I was convinced that the discharge of the 
musket was purely accidental. So the man was dis- 
charged. Shortly after this I started a subscription 
paper for Mr. Gould's family. I collected $850; $200 
of this amount came from Boston through Custoni- 
House Collector Jewett. I was sent for to come to the 
Custom House, as he said there were $200 he wished 
me to receipt for. I asked him whom we should thank 
for it, and he said that the parties did not wish to be 
known. A small house and lot of land were bought at 
Simonton's Cove, of Mr. John Woodbury, and deeded 
to Mr. Gould's family. Mr. Gould's last words to me 
were to look out for his family. I told him that I 
would, and I have done so faithfully. 

The capture and recapture of the "Gushing" were 
among the most notable incidents of the Civil War; 
and peculiarly interesting to Portland people because, 
for the first time, those at home were brought face to 
face with armed Confederates. Nor was it less inter- 
esting to the South, where the daring though unsuc- 
cessful attempt to enter a New England port and sur- 
prise its shipping was regarded as an heroic exploit. 
W^e looked upon it as a piratical undertaking. The 
Southern side of the story, though in all essential facts 
the same that I have told, has an interest of its own as 
coming from the defeated part}^ in the struggle. It 
was related for the first time by Robert Hunt, one of 
the crew of the "Tacou}-," in a paper read in the fall 
of 1894 before the Confederates' Veteran Association 
of Savannah, and republished in the Toriland Tress of 
October 27th in the same j^ear. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE CONFEDERATE ACCOUNT OF THE CAPTURE OF THE "CALEB 
CUSHING." MR. hunt's VIVACIOUS STORY. HOW THE PRIVA- 
TEERS STOLE INTO THE HARBOR, STOLE OUT, AND WERE CAUCHT 

WITH THE GOODS IN THEIR POSSESSION. THE FISH CHOWDER 

ON BOARD THE "ARCHER," AND THE HUMBLE PIE THE PRIVA- 
TEERS AFTERWARDS ATE, 

^HH Confederate side of the story of the capture and 
recapture of the "Caleb Cushing," mentioned in 
the preceding chapter and told by Mr. Robert Hunt, is 
a vivacious narrative, well worth repeating in this con- 
nection. "One night in June," says Mr. Hunt, "the 
Confederate cruiser 'Tacony' lay becalmed forty-five 
miles from Portland Harbor. We had been," he adds, 
"for several days burning and bonding Yankee mer- 
chantmen, and now among the fishermen, several of 
whom we had captured and destroyed. About six bells 
of the first watch, as well as I can remember, our look- 
out reported a steamer ahead ; our commander came on 
deck and after scanning the steamer with his glasses 
pronounced her a Yankee gunboat. 'Well, boys,' he 
said, ' I guess our frolics are over, but we must try and 
fool them.' She was soon in hailing distance and as 
she hauled up her commander hailed us as follows : 
'Bark ahoy, what and where bound?' to which Lieu- 
tenant Reed answered : ' Bark " Mary Jane " from 
Sagua ka Grande, bound to Portland.' The captain 
of the gunboat then informed us that there was a Rebel 
privateer cruising along the coast and burning mer- 
chantmen and that we had better keep a sharp lookout. 



:\iR. hi'nt's vivaciou.s story. 83 

Lieutenant Reed thanked him and he steamed awaj' to 
the southward. What a narrow escape; we were all 
speechless ; for more than a minute not a word was 
passed. The silence was broken by Reed, whose first 
words were : ' Boys, we have had a close call, but we 
are still on deck. It is getting too hot for us in this 
latitude, we must change the programme.' It was 
pretty generally known in the northern and eastern 
l^orts that we were cruising off the coast, and several 
gunboats and cutters had been sent out in search of 
us. Lieutenant Reed ordered all hands aft and stated 
to us his plans, which were as follows : To capture a 
smart schooner, burn the 'Tacou}^,' go into Portland, 
burn the two gunboats, then about completed, cap- 
ture one of the Boston steamers, burn the revenue 
cutter, put to sea, make for southern waters, and join 
the 'Florida.' 

"The next afternoon we captured a smart looking 
little fishing schooner called the 'Archer.' Her crew 
were just about sitting down to a nice fish supper. Their 
captain asked us to join them, and as the}' had a first- 
class chowder, besides some nice sounds and tongues 
cooked as they knew how to cook them, we accepted 
the invitation. After dark we transferred one six 
pounder, and such other articles as we needed, from 
the 'Tacony' to the 'Archer.' We then set fire to the 
' Tacony ' and stayed b}^ her until she burned to the 
water's edge and sank. The next afternoon we anchored 
off Fish Point in Portland Harbor. x\ll hands were 
below with the exception of a few knocking about 
the deck. 

"Those below were emploj^ed making oakum balls 
and saturating them with turpentine, with which to 
set fire to the gunboats. At the last moment, when 



84 CAPTAIN BKN'vS book. 

ever3'tliiiig was in readiness and every man had received 
his instructions, our engineer, Mr. Brown, informed 
Lieutenant Reed that he didn't feel competent to take 
charge of the Boston steamer's engine. Lieutenant 
Reed then decided to capture the United States revenue 
cutter 'Caleb Gushing' and put to sea again. Two 
boats were manned, and were soon along-side of her 
and hailed by the lookout, but before he had time to 
hail again we were aboard and had him silenced. In 
a few moments we had the entire crew, thirty-five men, 
in irons." 

The privateers made their way out of the harbor 
to Green Island, as has been related. There they were 
becalmed. From this point Mr. Hunt continues his 
story, as follows : " We found plenty of poAvder in 
the magazine, but no shot or shell. The cutter had 
received orders the day before to get ready for a cruise 
in search of the 'Tacony.' She had taken aboard 
her powder, and waited for the next day to take in her 
shot and shell; so we were informed by the crew. Our 
gunner found one thirty-two-pound shot in the potato 
locker, which he carried on deck. Our little breeze 
died away, and Reed ordered all hands below to get 
what rest they could. While I was looking astern, I 
saw what looked to be a steamer coming out, and, as I 
thought, heading for us. I called Reed, who came 
on deck, and, after looking at her awhile, said he 
guessed it was the Boston steamer bound out. He 
went below again, telling me to keep my eye on her. 
I shortly discovered another steamer astern of her, 
also coming out, and, on looking through the glasses 
at the first steamer, saw a crowd of soldiers on the 
upper deck. I immediately called our commander, 
and, on his reaching the deck and after one glance at 



MR. hunt's vivacious STORY. 85 

the steamers, he called all hands to clear the deck for 
action. The thirty-two pounder was loaded (it was 
located amidships), and the order given to put the 
helm down, the gunner and crew in the meantime 
training the gun to get a range on the steamer. The 
cutter would not mind her helm. ' Hard down.' 
shouted Reed, jumping toward the helm. ' Hard down, 
it is,' I answered. ' O, for a six-knot breeze and a 
few shot or shell,' cried Reed; ' we would show them 
some fun ! ' 

" The steamers were directly in our wake, and 
when Reed saw that we could not get an effective shot 
at them, he said : ' We will give them a scare any- 
how ! ' The gun was trained as far aft as possible, 
and the order given to fire. When the smoke cleared 
awa}', both steamers were broadside to as if turning 
back, and we gave a yell and shouted, ' Load her up 
again,' but Ave had nothing to load her with. We had 
plenty of powder, but nary a shot or shell. Reed at once 
gave orders to set fire to the cutter and abandon her. 
The prisoners were brought on deck, put in two boats, 
given the key to their irons, and turned adrift. I 
jumped down into the cabin and proceeded to break 
up the furniture and collect the bedding to set on fire. 
When the order was given to set fire, I struck a match 
and in an instant the whole cabin was on fire. I 
rushed for the companion way, and when I reached 
the deck I was pretty badly scorched, eyebrows, lashes, 
and mustache singed, and face and hands pretty well 
blistered. At this time all hands were in the boats, 
with the exception of the gunner and m3'self. He had 
gathered up a lot of scrap iron, nails, spikes, etc., with 
which he had loaded the gun for a parting shot. 

"Although the steamers were dead astern and not 



S6 CAPTAIN BP:n'vS book. 

within three or four points of the range of the gun, 
the}^ both stopped when the last shot was fired. AVe 
pulled away from the cutter and lay on our oars, know- 
ing that it would be useless to try to get away. Reed 
ordered us to throw our arms overboard, and every 
man stood up in the boats, unbuckled their belts, to 
which were attached our revolvers and cutlasses, and 
dropped them over the sides, and, I suppose, they are 
still lying at the bottom of Portland Bay. Reed then 
produced a shot bag of specie, which he divided among 
us. Our next act was to tie a white handkerchief to 
our boot hook and await our fate. The first steamer 
had been steering directl}^ for us from the time that 
we abandoned the cutter. The other stopped to pick 
up the crew of the cutter. We noticed that when the 
first steamer got near us, a detachment of soldiers on 
the upper deck had their muskets aimed directly at us 
as if about to fire, but an officer sprang in front of 
them, with a drawn sword, and the^^ at once came to a 
shoulder. We were ordered along-side, a rope was 
thrown to us, and we were taken on board. One man 
at a time was allowed to come over the side. He was 
searched, and then his arms tied behind his back 
with a piece of rattling stuff, and placed under guard 
before another M^as taken on board. There were not 
less than three hundred soldiers and armed citizens 
aboard the boat." 



CHAPTER X. 

THE WRECK OF THE "BOHEMIAN." SCENES AND INCIDENTS OF 

THAT MEMORABLE DISASTER. HOW THE ILL-FATED STEAMER 

WENT ASHORE. A NOTABLE CAMPAIGN ORATOR AMONG THE 

SURVIVORS. FISHING UP CASES OF GOODS. MR. FARMER, CAP- 
TAIN SARGENT, AND I'HE COOK STOVE. THE DIVER WHO lOOK 

A NAP AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

/^N the morning of Febrnary 23, 1864, the people of 
Portland were startled b}- the news of the wreck 
of the steamer "Bohemian," lost on the Cape Elizabeth 
shore early the night before. The " Bohemian," Cap- 
tain Bolan, was one of the Montreal Ocean Line, run- 
ning between Liverpool and Portland — a Clyde built, 
iron-screw steamer, about five years old. She was not 
accounted a fast vessel, but had often been tested b^^ 
adverse winds and rough weather and found staunch. 
She left Liverpool on the 4th of February with two 
hundred and eighteen passengers and a crew consisting 
of ninet3'-nine men. Her passage was tedions and she 
was some days overdue. On the night of February 
2 2d she was running slowl}^, and feeling her wa}- into 
the harbor, when, about eight o'clock, she struck on 
Alden's Rock, just as the watch was being changed. 
She was headed for the shore, but began to sink, and 
the boats, six in number (each capable of holding six- 
t3'-five persons), were launched. All reached the shore 
in safety except boat No. 2, which was swamped while 
being launched. By this mishap forty-two lives were 
lost. Among the passengers who escaped was an Irish 
lad on his way to make his fortune in the New World. 



88 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

He is now widely known as the Hon. John H. Fitz- 
gerald, of Boston, a politician and popnlar campaign 
orator. Though his first reception on these shores 
was of the roughest, America has since made amends 
b}^ the brilliant career she has offered to him. I was 
out in my pilot boat, " Nettle," looking for the ship for 
about five days, having with me Mr. Henry P. Miller, 
of Simonton's Cove. The day of the wreck I was off 
about ten miles from Portland Head. There was a 
light east wind and it was raining. I spoke two brigs, 
but they did not wish to take a pilot. We could then 
see three or four miles distant. I stayed in that local- 
it}^ until late in the afternoon. As the fog began to 
shut in I ran in for Portland Light. About six in the 
afternoon the wind died away, it became calm, and I 
anchored a mile southeast of Portland Head to hold 
my position. Thick fog hung over us and quite a 
swell was rolling in from the east. Mr. Miller had the 
first watch, from 8 to 12 p.ini. Between eight and nine 
o'clock he called me and said that he heard a gun. I 
went on deck and asked him in what direction. He 
pointed, and I looked at the compass and said to him 
that it was in range of the Cape. I thought it could 
not be the ship in that direction. Asking him if the 
gun sounded loud, he said that it was too loud for 
a musket ; and I told him if it was the ship we would 
hear another gun in a few minutes. We listened a 
long time, but heard no other, and made up our minds 
that they were celebrating on board some vessel, as it 
was Washington's birthda3\ 

How We Heard of the Wreck. — At midnight 
it was ni}' watch on deck. About two in the morning 
I heard a steamer coming out of the harbor, blowing 
her whistle. I blew the fog horn, so that the steamer 



HOW WE HEARD OE THE WRECK. 89 

would not run me down. As slie came nearer, I blew 
oftener. When near they hailed me and wanted to 
know if it was the pilot boat. I recognized my broth- 
er's voice, and knew it was the steam tug " Uncle Sam." 
When near me my brother said that the steamship 
"Bohemian" was ashore on Broad Cove Rocks, and he 
washed me to go out with him. Some of the passen- 
gers were lost, he said. I took my boat, fog horn, and 
sounding-line and went aboard the tug, leaving Mr. 
Miller on board the pilot boat with orders to come out 
when the fog cleared and the wind breezed up. When 
on board the tug, I found the lieutenant of the cutter 
with his crew and boat in tow. After steaming a while 
I told him that he was running broad off and if he 
would stop I would take the boat and row to Broad 
Cove Rock. The lieutenant said that he would like to 
follow me; so I told him to take a sounding-line, as it 
would not do to get inside of six fathoms of water. 
After rowing for eight or ten miuutes we wxre along- 
side Trundy's Reef buoy. The lieutenant thought 
that was straight going without having au}^ compass 
in the boat. I told him that we must row outside of 
Broad Cove Rock and back in and sound as we went. 
We could hear the breakers on the rocks as we were 
backing in. We got as near to the breakers as we 
dared ; and at that time I heard an iron door slam to 
the southwest, and said to the lieutenant that the 
"Bohemian" was not on the rock, but on the main- 
land. Every time my brother blew his whistle on the 
tug I blew the horn, so he could keep on the outside 
of me. 

Our First Sight of the "Bohemian." — When 
we got to the ship it was the hardest sight that I had 
ever looked at. We found Captain Bolan's boat and 



90 CAPTAIN BEn\S book. 

crew. He seemed to be completely prostrated over tiie 
loss of Ills ship and the passengers. When we got to 
the ship all of the passengers not lost were on shore. 
I learned that day from the chief officer that they were 
rnnning in a west conrse, and intended rnnning a half- 
honr longer. Then the}- were going to sound and then 
fire a gun. At that moment they saw faintly through 
the fog the two light-houses and knew it was the Cape 
by the revolving light. When made they were off the 
starboard beam. If tliej^ had not seen the lights in 
the course they were going, in ten or fifteen minutes 
the ship would have run on Richmond Island, or Watts 
Ledge, at full speed. It was said that the Boston boat 
sighted the " Bohemian " at the south of the Two 
Lights on her trip out. The chief officer said that 
after they had turned around they steered northeast to 
run down by the Cape. After running a while the ship 
struck on the bottom twice very heavily. It was soon 
found that she was making water. The helm was at 
once ordered to starboard. Evidently the ship was 
turning short of Broad Cove Rock. After the engine 
was stopped by the water coming up, the ship was 
anchored and orders given to fire the starboard gun. 
Before the port gun could be reached it was under 
water. That is the reason we only heard one gun in 
the pilot boat. The ship sank in six fathoms of water. 
If she had gone two ships' length ahead she would 
have sunk in ten fathoms, where most every one would 
have been lost. 

The "Bohemian" Goes to Pieces. — Mr. J. S. 
Miller was a passenger on the ship. He was the first 
to arrive in the city and give the sad news. Captain 
Barclay was put in charge of the ship, and divers were 
employed. A M'recking company, engaged to raise 



THE BOHEMIAN" GOES TO PIECES. 9I 

her, said thej^ could box up tlie liatclies, pump her out, 
and take her and her cargo to the cit}'. Mr. Alvin 
Neal, myself, and others fished up a large number of 
passengers, and bags of mail near the starboard main 
gangway that were washed overboard from the steer- 
age deck when the ship sank. Mr. J. L. Farmer 
thought as the ship was heading southeast and the 
topmast sent down she would lay easy so she could be 
pumped out in a few da^^s. I told him that the first 
storm th-at came would break her up in a few hours. 
The ship lay there eleven da3^s in perfectly smooth 
water, something never known before or since during 
the winter months. The wreckers kept at work boxing 
up the hatches. When about ready to use the pumps, 
there came an easterly- gale. The ship went to pieces 
in a short time, and her cargo was scattered all over 
the Cape shore. The lighters could have taken all the 
bale goods out of the ship during that smooth weather, 
before the gale came. The morning after the gale the 
wind veered to the north. I got two extra men, put a 
tackle to the mast-head, and sailed out by the Cape, 
thinking that the current would take some of the cargo 
out that way. After passing the Cape I found the tide 
streak running about south southwest. When about 
eight miles from the Cape I began to get in wreckage, 
and some large cases of dr^- goods washing level with 
the water. The first case I got to I put on box hooks. 
When hoisted nearly out of the water the goods in it 
were so heav}- the bottom came out, and I lost all of 
the contents. Going a little farther along in the tide 
streak I found another case. I put rope slings on and 
hoisted it on deck. In moving along the streak we 
found these cases quite plenty. Having a small crew, 
it was hard, slow work getting them on board. As I 



92 CAPTAIN BEN'vS BOOK. 

looked towards Wood Island I saw several fishing 
schooners standing out in the tide streak, some two 
miles to the south of me. In a short time they had all 
their boats out, probabl\^ towing cases to the schooners, 
to be hoisted on board. About three o'clock in the 
afternoon the wand died away so I could not follow up 
the tide streak. I could see the small boats apparently 
bus}', to the south of me, until sunset. I had ni}- pilot 
boat deck about full of cases, and I started for home. 
The wind being light and ahead, we arrived home the 
next day about noon. 

Thk Advantage of Knowing Mr. Farisier. — 
I reported to Mr. J. L. Farmer what I had picked up 
eight or ten miles to sea. He told me to put them 
into the Grand Trunk sheds. I asked him if he would 
receipt for them. He said no, but told me to put them 
into the shed and they would be all right ; but that 
did not suit me, as I knew Mr. Farmer. I called on 
Captain Sargent, the Custom House boarding officer, 
and told him that I had seen Mr. Farmer and he would 
not receipt for the goods. Captain Sargent said he 
could not sign for them. 

I told him the steamship "St. George" was due 
here that night to take the mails to Liverpool, in the 
place of the ship " Bohemian," and when she came in 
my boat would be back with the goods. I lashed them 
so they would be safe in case of rough weather, went 
out for the ship " St. George," and got her about mid- 
night. In the morning my boat came in. On seeing 
Captain Sargent he told me that after I went outside, 
Mr. Farmer called on him and wished him to send the 
cutter out and get the goods that Captain Willard had 
taken in his pilot boat, as he thought that the heat from 
the cook stove would injure them. Captain Sargent 



AvSLEEP ON THE BOTTO:\I OE THE SEA. 93 

told liini that lie saw Willard before lie went out, and 
the boat would be in by morning as the steamer was 
due here that evening. When the boat arrived I put 
the goods in charge of the United States INIarshal, and 
they were discharged at Portland Pier, at E. Churchill's 
Iron Block. 

Many fishermen put their goods into the Grand 
Trunk Railroad sheds. I learned they did not get one 
cent salvage for them. When the matter was settled, 
my part and the pilot boat netted me $800, and my 
crew made good daj- pay, as their shares were fixed as 
law fixes such cases. After that a wrecking company 
from St. John, N. B., was hired to save the cargo on 
percentage, I learned. I was there often, when out 
looking for jobs, to see the divers work. 

Asleep on the Bottom of the Sea. — One day 
the diver went down and sent up several slings of pig 
iron. After that the man attending the life-line got 
no signal, but did not dare to pull up for fear of foul- 
ing the diver in the wreck. Mr. Dennis, the boss, 
thought something was wrong, so he hurriedly put on 
his suit, started another air-pump, and went down and 
gave signals to haul up the diver. The men in the 
boat felt that something must be wrong, and when they 
got him up to the boat and took off his face-piece he 
waked up. He had fallen asleep, and as the air-pumps 
were going he got a comfortable nap down on the 
bottom of the sea. Some said he Avas out late the 
night before, and it was hinted that he occasionally 
took strong tea. 




ONE OF SPOT'S TRICKS. 



CHAPTER XI. 

DEEP-SEA FISHING. THE NERVOUS MAN AND HIS GUN. CAPTURING 

A DUSKY SHARK. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SCOTCHMAN AND 

THE WHALE. MV TRAINED PETS, THE COACH DOG AND THE 

CEDAR BIRD. 

M^HE season of 1864 was good for deep-sea fishing. 
We got three or fonr sword-fish and one blackfish. 
While ont looking for ships I conld see where the 
game was bedded thick, and wonld make up a party 
of friends to enjoy the sport. One of these parties 
consisted of George Trefethen, Charles, Henry, and 
Alpheus Sterling, myself, and Mr. J., one of the most 
excitable men I ever knew. On this account we gave 
him the front berth. His weapon was a double-barreled 
shot gun, muzzle loader, such as we all used in those 
days. Sometimes he would get two charges of shot in 
one barrel and two of powder in the other, so that the 
first would not go off and the second would not kill. 
At Half Way Rock there was plenty of game, no light- 
house being there to frighten it off. Frequently when 
out for ships I have seen gunners there when the 
mercury would be twelve below zero, and have carried 
hot coffee ashore to them — a much more comforting 
drink on a cold morning than Sebago. On the fishing 
trips I had very good luck, striking some big game, but 
never was it my fortune to find the much-talked-of sea 
serpent, which has been so frequently seen, under 
favorable conditions, by excited sportsmen and tourists 
on the Cape Elizabeth shore. Once, however, I sailed 
many miles for him, as I will presently relate. 



CAPTURING A DUSKY SHARK. 97 

Capturing a Dusky Shark. — During the summer 
of 1864 I took a part}' of ladies and gentlemen on a 
deep-sea-fisliing trip, when we struck bigger game than 
we had counted on. We hove to on Rock Cod Ledge, 
where we found the cod-fish quite plent}-. The day 
was delightful, the water perfectly smooth, and nobod}^ 
seasick. After dinner we stood off shore some ten or 
twelve miles, hoping to see a sword-fish ; but meeting 
with no luck started for home. On the wa}^ back I 
saw a ripple from the fin of a big fish, and tacked round 
and ran for him. The fin did not show enough to indi- 
cate his species. As we got near he began to sink 
slowly in the water, so I hastened to use the harpoon, 
striking him solid before its staff was out of sight. 
Then I gave him a hundred fathoms of line with a half 
barrel tied on the end, and sailed around for a short 
time in search of other fish. Finding none I took my 
boat with one of the crew, picked up the barrel, and 
pulled in the fish. The line was coiled carefull}- iii a 
tub so as to run clear in case he proved game. Sev- 
eral times we got him near the boat, and then he would 
make for the bottom. By his action I judged he was 
a sword-fish. When he grew tired we pulled him to 
the boat, and to my great astonishment he proved a big, 
man-eating shark. Then I tried to get my harpoon 
out and let him go, having no fancy to bother with the 
creature ; but it was in too deep. I would not cut the 
line, for it was my favorite harpoon and rarel}^ failed 
me. When he was got along-side the pilot boat all 
the sails were lowered in order that the halyards might 
be used to hoist him in with. We got slings on him, 
but he slipped out, and I jumped for the lance. While 
lancing him the blood colored the water all about, and 
one of the ladies seized me by the arm and exclaimed, 
" Oh, captain ! Don't ! You will hurt him ! " 







fiStt pt( 







HEAD TRICK. 



THE vSCOTCHMAN AND THE WHALE. 99 

I told her I guessed she had never been out 
a-sharking before. 

When the fish became quiet we hoisted him on 
deck. He listed the boat a foot or more. He meas- 
ured twelve feet in length, girt seven, his liver filled a 
barrel, and he had seven rows of teeth — the outside 
ones very large and about two inches long. 

The shark was put on exhibition in a fish market 
for two days, and a large number of people called to 
see it. Mr. Charles Fuller, the naturalist, said that 
it was a dusk}' shark, whose habit is the Pacific Ocean. 
It was the only one ever captured on this coast. x\fter 
we were done exhibiting it we gave it as a present to 
the Portland Natural History Societ}' to be mounted. 
It was burned at the time of the big fire. 

In the summer of 1865 we went on a sword-fishing 
trip off Monhegan Island. The following comprised 
the party : ]\lr. Lemuel Gushing, owner of Cushing's 
Island; Edward Bicknell, Salem, Mass.; Edward 
Keene, John Bradford, Capt. J. Blake, and others. 
We captured seven sword-fish and one shark and were 
three daj^s on the trip. On another sword-fishing trip, 
a few days later, were the following party : John H. 
Fogg, Lemuel Gushing, Edward Keene, Gapt. James 
Blake, and four others. We captured thirteen sword- 
fish, on a three and a half da3\s' trip. 

In August, 1865, 1 went to Portsmouth to pilot the 
United States monitor " Dictator," Admiral Farragut 
and Gommodore Bailey-. The United States monitor 
" Agamenticus " accompanied her to Portland. The two 
monitors had a sharp race from Portsmouth to Port- 
land, the "Dictator" being beaten about two miles, 
owing to her bearings heating up. 

The Scotchman and the Whale. — About this 




CAPTAIN WILLARD AND HIS DOG SPOT. 



THE vSCOTCHMAN AND THE WHAEE. lOI 

time a Scotch whaler was introduced to me who wished 
to go out. He had been on several trips in a New 
Bedford whaler, and said that he could put me on to a 
whale. I told him if he could I would do the harpoon- 
ing. The first day we saw nothing. It blew up to 
the south and we harbored at Wood Island for the 
night. In the morning we stood out towards Jeffery's 
Bank. We caught all the cod and mackerel we 
wanted, and soon saw a whale. The boat was manned 
and supplied with implements, provisions, and water. 
When we got near to the whale, he came up and blowed 
and went down to sound. The crew were ordered to 
peak their oars and wait until he came up again. The 
Scotchman thought the whale like a sperm whale, 
which would come up where he went down ; but when 
he came up he was a good half-mile distant. We were 
rowing nearly all of the forenoon, and I did not see that 
mj^ Scotch friend could get any nearer the whale than I 
could. About noon it breezed up to the south, so we 
abandoned the chase and went aboard to dinner. After 
dinner we resumed the pursuit in the "Nettle" and 
saw^ a school of blackfish four or five miles in length. 
We ran for them, but before reaching the spot saw a 
large whale, which seemed to be bothered by the mau}^ 
fish about him. He stayed on top of the water most 
of the time. It seemed a good chance to iron him 
before he saw us, but before we got near enough he 
took the alarm and got out of the wa}-. However, I 
had the good fortune to harpoon a blackfish crossing 
the bow. 

Presently we sighted another whale. I had on 
board a whale gun to shoot explosive lances. The 
barrel was made by Charles E. Staples & Son, Com- 
mercial Street, and it was stocked by Gilbert L. Bailey, 



MY TRAINED PETS. IO3 

Middle Street. When using a harpoon or gun I would 
stand on the end of the bowsprit with a line around 
m}' body and jibstay so as not to lose my balance. A 
short line was attached to the gun so it should not be 
lost overboard. This time we could not get close 
enough to the whale to blow him up, and, as the water 
was growing rough, abandoned the attempt. I passed 
the gun over to the Scotchman, but he lost his balance 
as he grasped it, and tumbled overboard watli the 
weapon in his hand. Fortunately he caught hold of 
the whale line, though in so doing he was forced to 
drop the gun, and Mr. William Taylor grasped him b}^ 
the collar as soon as his head was out of the water. 
When we pulled him aboard the first words he said 
were : 

"Captain, I have lost your gun, and I am sorry." 

I told him that I didn't mind the gun as long as 
we had got him. He was the coolest man I ever saw 
go overboard, and a comical fellow, too, alwa^'s saying 
quaint things that kept the company in a merry mood. 
Among the part}' who witnessed his mishap were W. 
Taylor, Edward Bicknell, of Salem, Mass., Benjamin 
W. Nason and George H. Estes, of Durham, Me., and 
Capt. James Blake. 

August and September, 1865, were fine months for 
mackereling. I went on several trips, taking on the 
first occasion Messrs. Charles J. Pennell, Edward Bick- 
nell, Edward Keene, Capt. James Blake, B. F. Willard, 
and one or two others whose names I do not now recall. 
The mackerel were large and fat, and I salted enough 
to last my faniil\' all winter. 

My Trained PeTvS. — In the spring of 1866 the 
captain of a British brig, loaded with molasses from 
Matanzas, brought back with him a black and white 







DOG AND BIRD TRICK. 




SPUT bP£LLING HIS NAME. 



Io6 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

spotted, full-blooded Spanish coach pup as a pet for his 
children, who were on board. Not wishing to take the 
dog across to England he gave him to me, and I put 
him in charije of O. B. Muller for trainino- durino- the 
summer while I was yachting. The pup was quick to 
learn and of a most docile disposition. Muller taught 
him seven tricks. Then I took him in the fall and 
kept on training him until he could perform fift^'-five. 
I treated him kindU' and never had to whip him. I 
taught him in six evenings, without a motion of the 
whip, to spell his name b}^ taking the letters out of the 
alphabet. Calling the letter I wanted, he would take 
it out of the row and bring it to me, and never make a 
mistake. When I left the cit}- for eight or ten da3\s I 
would tell him to stay with Mr. Muller, and he was 
never known to go upstairs to my room while I was 
away. I could send him with any stranger by telling 
him to go, and had no trouble in taking him to a pho- 
tograph gallery, where he was pictured doing all his 
tricks on the first trial. 

A friend of mine gave me a native cedar bird, 
commonl}^ called a cherry bird. I took him out of the 
cage and trained him in twent}^ minutes to stand still 
on the dog's head and eat sugar out of my hand. ]\Ir. 
Edward Woodbury, of Cape Elizabeth, was present at 
the time. Finallj^ I had a cap and perch made to fit 
the dog's head, with an elastic underneath his chin to 
hold it, so the bird could stand firm on the perch while 
the dog was performing. But one thing that I could 
never teach him to do was to fly from the dog's head 
to his cage. I suppose that he did not exercise his 
wings enough to strengthen them. The dog never 
offered to harm the bird. They seemed to be happ}^ in 
performing together. The}- were both trained by kind 




DOG AND BIRD TRICK. 




CHAIR TRICK. 



MY TRAINED PRTvS. 109 

treatment. I had the bird three or four years, and he 
died and I had him mounted and put into my cabinet 
with my other curiosities. 

I have been offered large sums of money for the 
dog, one man in Toronto, Canada, offering me $500. 
I told him that was worth fi^■e hundred dogs, but I was 
so attached to my pet I could not think of selling him. 
After seeing the dog perform, the Toronto man said 
probably he would not do it for anybody else. Though 
never having tried it, I thought the dog would. I 
told my visitor to take my whip, and stood behind 
him and instructed him what to do; telling him to 
drag the whip on the floor, walk back slowly, call the 
dog by name, and tell him to creep. The dog did so 
immediately. Then the whip Mas swung cross-way 
and the dog told to sit up. He did so at once. Man}- 
other tricks were also performed, much to the Cana- 
dian man's delight. After having the dog fifteen years, 
he became blind, and I got Doctor Bailey to chloroform 
him. I had him buried on my lot in the cemetery at 
Cape Elizabeth, with a fifty-dollar head-stone on which 
he is carved in the act of performing one of his tricks. 
The accompanying illustrations will convey a good 
idea of the dog and bird while going through some of 
their performances. 



CHAPTER XII. 

A WHALE IN THE MARP.OR. THE SEVEN- [(JN RI-ACKFISH. HOW A 

HAVSEEri SI'OII.Er) HIS LINEN TROUSERS. APPEARANCE AND 

HARITS OF THE KLACKFISH. A LIVELY FIOHI WLl'H A SWORD- 
FISH. THE SUMMER OF 1867. 

TN July, 1S66, an unexpected visitor, a Avhale, came 
into the harbor. As soon as I received the news I 
got the following men : A. Taylor, Chas. Harris, John 
Shaw, C. Burns, and A. H. Alantine. We went to the 
pilot boat " Nettle," got whale line, harpoons, lances, 
and whale gun to shoot bomb lances and blow him up 
if we could not get near enough to harpoon. We 
started out and struck him once, bnt in a few minutes 
the harpoon drew out. Then we loaded the whale gun. 
We were near \^aughan's Bridge, which was full of 
teams and people, while all the shores were filled with 
anxious spectators. Shortly he came up to blow within 
fifteen 3'ards of us ; but was side to, his back some two 
feet above the water. I aimed the gun near the edge 
of the water and fired the bomb lance. It went through 
his back, skipped some twenty feet or more on the 
water, and burst, making the water fl}- high in the air. 
This enraged him and he went fast for the railroad 
bridge. When near it he would find the piling thick, 
then change his course across the channel. When 
passing the draw the water was thick with mud that 
he had stirred up. He could not see the draw, and as 
he came down ran on to the old ways left there after 
one of the gunboats was launched. Nearly half his 
back was out of the water. We in the boat saw his 



112 CAPTAIN BEN'vS BOOK. 

position, and rowed with all our strength to get to him 
before he could back off. Being flood tide, before we 
could get near enough to iron him he ran from one 
bridge to another, saw the wide space in the draw, and 
went through it. When he got to Portland Bridge he 
passed through some distance south of the draw, and 
we saw him no more. He was a 3^oung whale, some 
thirty feet in length. If we had thought to set a net 
across the draw we could have kept him there until 
the next low water. I guess the whale came upon an 
excursion to view the ruins of Portland, for it was just 
after the big fire. 

A few days later a captain of a fishing schooner 
informed me that he saw several sword-fish twent^'-five 
miles southeast of Cape Elizabeth. I got the follow- 
ing crew: Capt. Scott B. Oliver, Capt. William Small, 
Capt. William Senter, Capt. James Blake, and two 
others, went out to the place reported and found them. 
We got seven large fish and were back the same evening. 

A Seven-Ton Black fish. — Shortly after I went 
on a blackfish trip with the following crew : Capt. K. 
D. Atwood, Mr. Theophilus Hopkins, Isaac Smith, 
Capt. James Blake, and some others. When about 
twenty miles south southeast from Cape Elizabeth 
lights, we sighted a large school of blackfish, some 
three miles in length, and sailed for them. I was on 
the end of the bowsprit as a big blackfish came up to 
blow. It was a long distance to harpoon, but I sent it 
some thirty feet and hit him hard. When Ave hauled 
him along-side, Atwood asked me what I would do 
with him. I said hoist him on board. We put the 
fore-throat halyards on him, but could not hoist the 
head half out of the water. Then the question came 
how to tow him. If tail foremost we would be a long 



AN UNBELIEVER AND HIS LINEN TROUSERvS. II3 

time ill getting him in. So we put the anchor rope 
fast to the tail, led it to the head, lashed it, put old 
canvas on the rope to save the chaffing and towed him 
head foremost. During this time the wind changed to 
northwest with a fresh breeze and we were some twenty 
miles to leeward of Cape Elizabeth, The first tack we 
fetched Seguin Island, and, the wind favoring us, on 
the next tack, Trundj^'s Reef buoy. We arrived at 
the Custom House dock near dark. After supper I had 
twenty men to help me hoist the fish up, and put him 
into Yeaton & Smith's market, at Main Wharf, where 
he was to be exhibited. It was low water, and when 
most up to the top of the wharf he slipped out of the 
slings and went down, making a big splash. Then we 
slung him solid and bridled him from head to tail. 
When up to the cap of the wharf again, one of the 
shear legs broke, and down he went the second time. 
We thought the shears were good for more than his 
weight, but we had under-estimated him, thinking he 
would weigh eight or ten thousand pounds, instead of 
seven tons as it proved. Then we went to Franklin 
Wharf, got large spars, and rigged up again. By this 
time it was midnight, and down cg.me fifteen policemen, 
who took hold of the fall, which was a luff tackle, and 
up he went. Then came hard work to haul him into the 
market with another large tackle. When we got him 
in there we put the tape on, and he measured tAventy- 
four feet in length and twelve feet in circumference. 

An Unbeliever and His Linen Trousers. — 
We had him on exhibition two days, and the market 
was filled with people the most of the time. The last 
day he swelled up large, the result of which was some 
fun. A man and a bo}- came from the country, both 
wearing linen trousers. The old man said it was a 



114 CAPTAIN BP:n'S book. 

liumbug ; that it was India rubber blown up, and not a 
fisli. I showed him where the skin was off and he 
could see the blubber, but to no purpose. He went 
around where the harpoon was imbedded. I left it 
there so the people could see where the fish was hit. 
The old man asked what that was. I told him it was 
the harpoon that captured the fish. He took hold of 
it. I told him to be careful or he might get something 
on him that wouldn't smell good. At that moment he 
gave a jerk as if he were mad. The matter came out 
as if out of a gun, and he and the bo}^ got the full 
force on their new linen trousers. The last I saw of 
them they were on the wharf working with straw to 
clean the filth from their clothes. The smell was 
worse than porgy oil. The blubber of the fish was 
taken off and the oil tried out b}- John Stillwell, the 
whaler, and put into barrels over night. The barrels 
shrunk up during the night and we lost about one 
hundred dollars' worth of oil. The dock in the morn- 
ing was covered with it. The oil was sold, and what 
was taken at the exhibition amounted to $350. The 
crew shared about $70 apiece. The carcass was given 
to a farmer to haul off, and we had lots of sport with 
him. When the harpoon was cut out it was within 
two or three inches of the heart. 

The blackfish is a true cetacean (delphinus globi- 
ceps, Cuvier) and is commonly called the social bottle 
head or howling whale. Although having a fish-like 
form it is, as the other cetaceans, not a fish but a true 
air-breathing mammal, warm blooded, bringing forth 
its young alive, and suckling them for a considerable 
period. The manner in wdiich nature works its trans- 
formation from one order of beings to another is curi- 
ously illustrated in the pectoral fins of the blackfish. 



AN UNBELIEVER AND HIS LINEN TROUSERS. II5 

which are in reality the forelegs of the animal, con- 
taining the usual bones of the vertebrate arm. Being 
an air-breathing animal, thrown into the sea to live 
among the fishes, it is thus adapted to its home by 
having its anterior limbs converted into powerful fins. 
The posterior limbs are dispensed with, the only trace 
of them being a pair of pelvic bones suspended among 
the muscles and detached from the spine. The black- 
fish is remarkable for its social disposition, herding 
together in great numbers. This specimen as it lay 
upon its belly measured five feet from the back to the 
top of its dorsal fin. Its shape was like that of two 
inclined planes united in a crest or dorsal fin. Its 
head was obtuse, conical, and rounded. Its mouth was 
comparativel}^ small, with teeth set wide apart, and 
about half an inch long. Its nostrils opened on the top 
of the head, and like that of the whale constituted the 
blow holes for purposes of respiration and the expul- 
sion of water, not for the exercise of smell. There were 
no external ears, and the eyes were small, not larger 
than those of an ox, and apparently very far back. Its 
skin was without scales, perfectly smooth, black in 
color, and very much resembling India rubber in ap- 
pearance. The head was disproportionately large, the 
body tapering rapidly from the dorsal fin to the tail, 
which had two flukes extended horizontally. These 
flukes the animal, in propelling itself through the 
water, bends into the exact form of a propeller. It was 
doubtless from this that onr in\'entors got their idea 
of the steam propeller. The blackfish like all the 
cetaceans is carnivorous, preying on smaller fish, like 
mackerel or herring, opening his mouth and SAvallow- 
ing numbers as he drives through the frightened 
schools of small fr}-. The oil is clear, and as nice as 
sperm oil. 



Il6 CAPTAIN BEN'vS book. 

A Fight with a Sword-Fish. — In the summer 
of 1867 we went on several sword-iishing trips and had 
a hard fight with one fish about twent}^ miles from 
Cape Elizabeth. At the time we were laying becalmed 
and we sighted a big fish a short distance awaj^ 

Mr. Henry M. Turner was one of the party and I 
took him in the boat to scull me. I harpooned the fish, 
and when he was hit it numbed him. We backed off 
some forty or fifty fathoms of line from him. He came 
up and took a circle, and, when half-way around again, 
came straight for us. I told Turner to keep the boat 
head on to him, and when he got near the bow I shoved 
the lance in him up to the socket. That seemed to 
still him for a while and the speed carried him under 
the boat. I told Turner to back off immediately. 
This time we backed the whole length of the line, one 
hundred fathoms. Just as the line came taut the fish 
rose to the top of the water, circled around as he did at 
first, and came for us again. I waited until he got 
near enough for me to shove the lance into him. 
When I did so, and put my weight on it, the dory 
slewed, he put his head up, and the sword came up 
over the gunwale. I told Turner to catch him by the 
sword. He did so with both hands. The fish remained 
quiet, probably for fear of breaking his sword. I made 
good use of the lance while he was in this position, 
lanced him several times, and then as he was sinking 
told Turner to let go and back off. We backed off the 
whole length of the line, and kept it taut so as to know 
his position. I concluded that he could not stand it 
long and as he did not come on top of the water again, 
I concluded that he must be dead and on the bottom. 
After waiting some twenty- to thirty minutes we hauled 
him up from the bottom in about fift}" fathoms of water. 



A FIGHT WITH A SWORD-FISH. 117 

The party on the pilot boat felt \ er}' anxious about us 
after seeing such a battle, but they had no wind to get 
to us. We put a tail rope on him and towed him to 
the pilot boat. He proved to be fifteen feet long and 
weighed four hundred pounds. 

I consider it very dangerous to have slack lime 
after making fast to a sword-fish, as you do not know 
what minute he will come up through the bottom of 
the boat. By backing off and keeping a taut line you 
can tell just where he is. One time I struck a small 
sword-fish off the bowsprit of the " Nettle." She was 
going at eight or nine knots with a strong breeze. 
The fish was heading the same way the boat was. He 
turned around quickly and ran into the pilot boat abaft 
the main rigging, ran his sword through the waist- 
board and into a white-oak timber some three inches 
and broke it off. It was lucky that his sword did not 
go abo\e the rail, as the cockpit was full of people and 
some one might have been injured by it. A line and 
keg were thrown overboard and the boat hove to. Two 
of us took the dory, picked up the buoy, and hauled 
on to him, coiling the rope into a tub. He was appar- 
ently dead and did not move. We hauled him up and 
put a tail line on him. The pilot boat came up to us 
and took a line. The fish was hauled along-side the 
boat and hoisted on board. He showed no sign of life. 
We were on our way home when we sighted him. 
When near Portland Head Light he came to life and 
went to jumping. One time I thought that he would 
go overboard before I could get him still. We stilled 
him b}^ hitting him on his sword with a club. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

IN WHICH ALL MANNER OF FISH IS SOUGHT, FROM SEA SERPENT TO 
MACKEREL. A FIGHT BETWEEN A SWORD-FISH AND TWO KILL- 
ERS. ST. ELMO'S FIRE. THE RACE BETWEEN THE "NETTLE" 

AND "SPARKLE." A FAMOUS TROUTING PARTY ON MOUNT 

DESERT. CONCERNING WATER-SPOUTS. HUNTINC; EIDER DUCKS. 

DOCTOR BOWLES AND THE WHITE-TAILED MARTIN. THE BEGIN- 
NING OF THE SWORD-FISH INDUSTRY. 

JULY 25, 1867, the "Nettle" sailed on a deep-sea- 
fishing trip, well prepared to captnre anything from 
a sea serpent down to a mackerel. When abont twen- 
ty-five miles from Cape Elizabeth we saw something 
ahead, at times, making the water fly. The water was 
smooth, with a light sonthwest wind. As we neared 
the strange object we saw something black sticking 
up three or four feet. The part}- became ver}^ much 
excited and said that it must be the sea serpent. They 
asked me if I was going to harpoon him, and I said 
yes, I would harpoon anything in the water if I could 
get near enough. But, getting close to the suspicious 
thing, we found it to be two large killers having a ter- 
rific battle with a sw^ord-fish. These fish w^ere all of 
thirty feet in length, with a high fin on the back. We 
could see the sword-fish at times showing a fin and 
going through the water very fast. I thought that it 
would be a good chance to use my harpoon, but the 
eyes of the fish were too sharp for me. When we got 
close to them the}^ would go down and come up in 
another direction. In a short time the killers seemed 
to be victorious, and the sword-fish took a northeast 
direction and left them, going faster than we could sail 



SPORT OFF MONHEGAN AND SEGUIN. II9 

with a three-knot breeze. But before he got out of 
sight from the mast-head he turned around and began 
to circle, probably to see if the killers were after him. 
By this means we gained on him, got into good posi- 
tion, and harpooned him. After being fast to him for 
about an hour and a half we got him up to the boat 
and lanced him. His length was twelve feet, three 
inches. He was large in body and evidently a male 
fish. The male fish do the fighting and are provided 
with a solid sword. The female sword contains differ- 
ent cells the whole length. I have a female sword in 
my office sawed vertically, which is a curiosit}^ to see. 

Sport Off Monhegan and Seguin. — After the 
fish was aboard we sailed for Monhegan Island. There 
we had grand good luck and sport. We captured five 
good-sized sword-fish and returned home, having been 
out onl}' two days. The combined length of the five 
fish was sixtj'-eight feet, seven inches. In the party 
were Capt. James Blake, Alex Taylor, Lemuel Gush- 
ing, and several others whom I do not remember. On 
these trips I could only take four or five passengers 
besides my crew, on account of the small space for 
sleeping. All the party were highly pleased with the 
trip, and wished to go again. A great many wished 
to go, but there was not room enough to accommodate 
them. Oftentimes thej^ would engage ahead so as to 
get the chance of going. 

My next trip was a short one for a daj^ to the 
south of Seguin Island. We caught one large sword- 
fish weighing nearly live hundred pounds, and a large 
sunfish nearly the same weight. On seeing a large 
whale, some lift}' to sixty feet long, we tried to get on 
him for harpooning, but his eyes were too sharp for us. 
It is surprising how far whales can see, considering 



I20 CAPTAIN ben's BOOK. 

that their eyes are only as large as those of an ox. I 
loaded the whale gun with the bomb lance and took it 
on the end of the bowsprit, but the nearest that I could 
get was from twenty to thirty yards. The next time 
he came up to blow, heading from us, I fired the gun, 
aiming a little high. The bomb lance hit him on 
the back, glanced, and bounded some distance ahead. 
Before he had time to get up where it was it exploded. 
He changed his course, and made the water foam. It 
looked as though he was going fifty miles an hour, and 
it was only a short time before he was out of sight. 

St. EljNIo's Fire. — I have frequentl}^ mentioned 
St. Elmo's fire. There is a class of quite harmless 
phenomena caused by a strong degree of electricity-, 
where the air is highly charged, as during storms of 
snow or rain. These sometimes become visible in the 
form of pale-colored flames, quivering on the points of 
non-conductors or of insulated conductors. Mariner's 
lights, or St. Elmo's fire, is a phenomenon of this 
description, usuall}' reckoned by sailors a fortunate 
omen. It was noticed during the voyages of Columbus 
and Magellan. Forbin thus describes its appearance 
as observed by him in 1696: "The sky was suddenly' 
covered with thick clouds. Fearing a gale, I had all 
the sails reefed. There were more than thirty St. 
Elmo's fires on the ship. One of them occupied the 
vane of the mainmast and was about nineteen inches 
long. I sent a sailor to fetch it. When he was aloft 
he heard a noise like that which is made when moist 
gunpowder is burned. I ordered him to take off the 
vane. He had scarcely executed this order when the 
fire quitted it and placed itself at the top of the main- 
mast, M'hence it could not possibly be removed." 

Admiral Smith describes one observed by him in 




ST. ELMO'S FIRE. 



122 CAPTAIN BEn'vS BOOK. 

1807, while on board the frigate "Cornwallis," in the 
Bay of Panama, of snch brilliancy that they could see 
each other's faces on deck. I never saw any of these 
lights, but am acquainted with several captains who 
have seen them. I put this in, thinking it will be of 
interest to my readers. 

The "Nettle" and the "Sparkle." — Capt. 
William Senter owned a ^^acht named the "Sparkle." 
Being about the size of my boat (the "Nettle") and 
well matched for speed, we were often in the same com- 
pau}^ on shooting excursions and sailing parties. One 
memorable trip was from Portland to Bar Harbor. 
The "Sparkle" had a party of ten and crew and the 
"Nettle" the same. We sailed from Portland in the 
forenoon in a strong southwest wind. My pilot was to 
take us to Bass Harbor; then their pilot was to take 
charge from there to Bar Harbor. The first night was 
spent at Herring Gut. We got under way in the 
morning with a fair wind as strong as we wished. Mr. 
Senter was trying his best to pass the "Nettle," but 
when he got on the weather quarter she gradually 
dropped astern. Then he changed his course to the 
leeward of our wake, so she would come up slowly and 
get near enough to enable each party to talk and toss 
boiled eggs to and fro. When we arrived at Bass Har- 
bor bar, I luffed into the wind and let the "Sparkle" 
take the lead; then I tried my best for the rest of the 
day to pass by her, watching strong flaws of wind to 
get my jib far enough ahead to take the wind out of 
her mainsail so I could pass. In so doing I dropped 
slowly astern ; then changed my course to the leeward 
of her wake and gained until we could easily converse 
with each other. We went in this wise all the way to 
Bar Harbor, arriving there near night. Both yachts 



A TROUTING TRIP AT BAR HARBOR. 123 

luffed Up and anchored simultaneously, making four- 
teen hours running time, which was ver}^ good for 
small yachts. My party consisted of Judge Edward 
Fox, Rev. Dr. Burgess, Rev. Dr. Shailer, George B. 
B. Jackson, and others. I don't remember the date of 
this trip, but think there were only two boarding- 
houses at Bar Harbor then. / 

A Trouting Trip at Bar Harbor. — We learned 
that some of the "Sparkle" part}- were going trouting 
in the morning. One of them was Lieutenant Inman, 
who had been there before. He had written ahead and 
engaged the onl}^ boat the^^ had in the trout pond. As 
Messrs. Burgess and Jackson felt sorry that they could 
not go trouting too, I told them that I thought it 
could be arranged. I went ashore and saw a farmer 
and engaged him to take his hay-rack and haul my 
boat to the pond, which w^as some four miles awa3\ 
Several of each party stopped ashore nights. In the 
morning while they were at breakfast I dug angle 
worms for bait. The boat was put on hay so as to ride 
easy. The morning being misty, we took our rubber 
coats and started for the pond. We arrived at the foot, 
put our boat into the water, and got the farmer to come 
back for us late in the afternoon. Rowing up to the 
head of the pond we found our foresighted friends, who 
were ver}^ much surprised to see us. The}- were hav- 
ing fine luck, catching trout fast, and were mighty 
proud of a fancj- dip net they had brought along. We 
anchored there and began to fish. The mist cleared, 
giving us a good overcast da}-, and the trout bit fast. 
Mr. Burgess said it was a pity we did not have a dip 
net for them. In a few minutes he hooked a good-sized 
trout. I took Judge Fox's sou'wester hat to use as a 
dip net and it worked like a charm. The trout ran 



124 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

into it and I made qnite a hanl, spattering Mr. Burgess 
in the operation. However, he did not mind that as 
long as we got the fish and beat the other fellows. We 
caught all the trout that we wanted, and put some in 
the ice-chest so we had them fresh all the rest of the 
trip. I split, salted, and dried some of them. When 
dried they were as tough as leather and had no taste. 

Water-Spouts. — Having been asked to describe 
water-spouts, I insert this short description. Water- 
spouts are whirlwinds occurring on the sea or on lakes. 
They first appear in the form of an inverted cone 
attached to a dark cloud. The cone swings back- 
wards and forwards, and graduall}^ approaches the 
water, which becomes violently agitated. The whirl- 
ing eddy draws up masses of spray which unite with 
the descending cone. When fully formed they appear 
as tall pillars of clouds of a sombre gra}^, stretching 
from the sea to the sky, whirling around on their axes. 
Besides this rotary, they have a progressive, motion. 
They continue but a brief time, when the column 
breaks, and rain often descends from the clouds above. 
The drops of water forming this rain are never salt, as 
would be the case were they carried up from the ocean. 
They must be derived from the clouds, as is ordinary 
rain. The accompanj^ing illustration gives a good 
idea of them. 

A Fruitless Hunt for Eider Ducks. — In the 
winter of 1868 the sea game were very plentiful, par- 
ticularly the eider ducks, whose places of feeding were 
Green Island Reefs and Half W^ay Rock. They came 
in thousands. I got up the following partj- to go to 
Half W^ay Rock: William Senter, George, Henr}^, and 
Charles Trefethen, and Alpheus Sterling. The wind 
was northwest, and blowing ver}- heavy and cold. We 




WATER-SPOUTS. 



126 CAPTAIN BEN'vS BOOK. 

ran outside of Bangs Island and anchored under the 
lee to get an early start for the shooting grounds. We 
got under way early in the morning, but found we 
could not steer the boat as the rudder had frozen up 
solid in the rudder port. We had to haul down the 
head sail and heat water to thaw it out. The ther- 
mometer was twelve below zero. When passing Green 
Island it came on to blow a gale. We stood in under 
the lee of Jewell's Island and anchored, hoping to see 
the wind die away so we could have some fun with the 
ducks. We found after breakfast that the wind kept 
on blowing and we decided to come home with no 
ducks that trip. 

Mr. Bowles and the White-Tailed Martin. 
— In May we had a fine gunning trip to Cape Small 
Point. We got some over two hundred game, mostly 
of the coot kind. We had gray coot, white-winged 
coot, butter-bill coot, old squaw, some wild pigeon, a 
few northern divers, one fine comorant, and one large 
white-tailed martin. The party consisted of Jonas 
Hamilton, George Trefethen, J. N. Martin, Mr. Taylor, 
William Senter, myself, and two others. On the way 
home we took one morning at Hussey's Sound for old 
scjuaws. Hamilton and Trefethen being the last to 
leave the pilot boat, they hove fifteen or twenty old 
squaws aboard, and started for the sound to shoot. 
About lo A. M. all the shooters came on board. Some 
of the boats had from five to seven. Hamilton and 
Trefethen began to throw theirs out and count them, 
and all the rest of the shooters were very much sur- 
prised to see so man}- birds with so little shooting. 
On arriving at Portland the birds fell short in number. 
Then it leaked out that they took a supply in the 
morning from the pilot boat. 



MAKING A BIG HAUL OF SWORD-FISH. 1 27 

The next morning a list of our game was in the 
daily papers. The Rev. Mr. Bowles, seeing the list of 
game, called on Mr. Trefethen and asked him what he 
did with the comorant. He told him that Willard 
hove him overboard. Mr. Bowles said he was very 
sorr}^ for that, as it was a rare bird on this coast and 
he wanted it to mount for the Natural History Society. 
He saw b}^ the paper that we had one large white-tailed 
martin. Trefethen explained that the rare bird was 
Mr. JMartin, and said that Willard shot Martin with a 
number four spent shot. It stung him on the cheek, 
but did not break the skin, as the distance was some 
two hundred j^ards. 

In the morning Mr. Hamilton saw the same 
account in the papers, and called on Martin at the 
roundhouse, saying that the Rev. Mr. Bowles wanted 
to see him. 

"What does he want to see me for? " innocently 
asked Mr. Martin. 

Hamilton said, " He wants to get your hide to 
mount for the Natural History Society." 

" What are you coining at?" said IVIartin. 

Hamilton then asked him if he hadn't seen the 
paper that morning. When it was handed to him and 
he read the remarkable item of news his wrath was 
onl}^ equaled by his astonishment. 

Making a Big Haul of Sword-Fish. — During 
the summer of 1868, the s^vord-fish were very plentiful 
and I captured sixty-four of them. My largest trip I 
brought in August 27th. I Lad seventeen sword-fish 
and one shark. One of these fish was twenty-one feet 
in length, and weighed nine hundred and fift^^-nine 
pounds. The smallest one was eleven feet long. This 
one, with the shark, was given to the Peabody Institute 



128 CAPTAIN ben's BOOK. 

to be mounted. The trip lasted three days. The fol- 
lowing composed the party: Capt. A. S. Oliver, Capt. 
James Blake, Edward Keene, Lemuel dishing, Edwin 
Bicknell, of Salem, Mass, and one or two others. We 
saw no one else fishing on the grounds. These fish 
were caught twenty-five miles south southeast of Mon- 
hegan Island. 

My next sword-fish trip was to the same grounds. 
We found plenty of them and captured twelve in one 
day ; then hove to for the night. During the first part 
of the night we were busy dressing the sword-fish to 
ice up. It being calm and smooth, the sharks came 
around in great numbers to get the waste we were 
throwing overboard. While washing the deck down 
one came up to the scupper to get the blood that was 
running out, and the top of his back was out of the water. 
I told the party to stand back away from his tail and 
I would lance him. I took the lance and stood on the 
house away from the rail, giving it to him good and 
hard. In his hurry to get away from the boat his tail 
came out of the water five or six feet, throwing water 
nearly all over the boat. No sooner was that shark 
driven off than others came up to the same place. I 
lanced three or four more for the amusement of the 
part}'. When morning came the wind began to breeze 
up southeast and rain to fall. It came a strong gale 
and we had to run for home. The seventeen sword-fish 
lot brought eight and a half cents a pound, the twevle 
lot eight and a quarter. They were shipped to Boston 
by K. D. Atwood. During the summer I stocked 
$1,150 on sword-fish. Then all the fishermen pre- 
pared for sword-fishing, and have made a business of 
it ever since. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

A CRUISE FOR THE SEA SERPENT. DISTINGUISHED JURISTS AND 

CLERGYMEN HUNTING THE WHALE. LOTS OF FUN RUT NO 

FISH. A COLORED COOK WHO TURNED WHITE. COLLECTING 

SHIP NEWS FOR THE DAILY PAPERS. RESCUE OF A GUNNING 

PARTY ON HALF WAY ROCK. CAPTAIN SENTER AND THE 

"SPARKLE." 

J\ BOUT this time a sea serpent was reported off the 
coast. I got a crew and started in the "Nettle" 
in search. We cruised three days without seeing him, 
and then abandoned the quest. On the way back we 
captured a blackfish and sold it to Mr. Johnson, the 
lobster dealer, thus making more out of our hunt than 
most people do who chase sea serpents. 

In the spring of 1869 the "Nettle" and the 
"Sparkle" both took gunning parties to Cape Small 
Point Harbor and gunned in the small boats. Later in 
the season I took the following party for deep-sea fish- 
ing: Judge Edward Fox, Rev. Dr. Shailer, Rev. Dr. 
Burgess, George E. B. Jackson, Mr. John Short, Capt. 
James Blake, Dixon D. Fuller, and two others besides 
the crew. When about a mile outside Ram Island, 
Judge Fox saw a big fish break water and called my 
attention to it. After a few minutes we saw a young 
whale some thirty feet in length come up and blow. I 
immediateh^ got m}- harpoon ready and took position 
on the end of the bowsprit, with a life-line around ni}' 
body and jibstay. Fuller hauled the boat up and got 
things ready. At that moment the whale blew close 
to the lee cjuarter. As he came forward I could see 



130 CAPTAIN BEn'vS book. 

liim under water. He crossed under the bowsprit, some 
ten feet deep, and came up on the starboard side to 
blow, giving me a good chance to throw it with all my 
might and it took effect about midway on the left side 
and buried all of two feet in him. I told Fuller to 
jump into the boat with another man, and got in off 
the bowsprit as soon as possible. As I boarded the 
boat the whale began to run the line quickly out of 
the tub, and the man who got in with Fuller grew 
frightened, jumping out, and climbed upon the yacht. 
We gave the fish the whole line of a hundred fathoms 
in order to get the end through a leader in the bow of 
the boat. The boat was only fourteen feet long, built 
sharp for a stevedore boat, and unsuitable to attack 
larofe fish in. The whale ran to the southwest until 
he got in the ship channel ; then changed his course 
to northwest and ran for Portland Harbor. We had 
hauled in about fifty fathoms of line, and when oppo- 
site Portland Head Light he came up to blow and then 
went under; heaving his tail up as they usually do 
when going down to sound. The next time he came 
up to blow I sent the lance into his back, but too far 
aft to be much good. At this time we were very near 
the yacht, thus giving the part}^ a grand view of the 
monster. As he ran he kept near the top of the water, 
the line cutting through the water and humming like 
a fiddle-string, while every timber of the boat trembled. 
I really think that he was going thirty miles an hour. 

" By jinks, aint he going? " shouted Fuller. 

It being perfectly smooth water, we held to him. 
He only ran with this speed about ten minutes. We 
looked around to the pilot boat and she was four or five 
miles away, to the leeward, so we could hope for no 
help from her. Every time we hauled on to him and 



HUNTING THE WHALE. 131 

got near his tail, hoping to have a chance to lance him 
when he came up to blow, he would see us and run 
around in a circle with great speed, like a horse in a 
circus ring. Our boat being sharp, we could not turn 
around quick enough and would have to pay out line 
to keep from hauling under. The circling was repeated 
twenty-five or thirt}'^ times while we were fast to him. 
When to the south of Cape Elizabeth some six or 
seven miles, we came across Ellis Usher and took him 
on board, dropping his boat astern and towing her. 
Then I had help to haul on the line. But the two 
boats towing did not make any difference in the whale's 
speed. Several times I lanced him, but it was too far 
aft to be any good. When we had been fast to him 
about four hours he seemed to get tired, and as he 
came up to blow I sent the lance on an angle well for- 
ward. It took effect in his back about ten feet abaft 
the spout hole. The staff broke off at the socket. 
Then we were crippled, as it was all the lance we had 
in the boat. For about an hour the lance stayed there, 
showing the socket every time he came up to blow. 
Finally it worked itself out. We still held on to him, 
hoping that the pilot boat would get up to us so we 
could obtain some weapons. We could then have killed 
him easily. After being fast to him for six or seven 
hours the harpoon drew out. At this time we were 
about twenty-five miles south southeast of Cape Eliza- 
beth, with the pilot boat all of six miles to our leeward. 
Then, being tired and hungry and with not a dr^- 
stitch on us, we gave up the chase. 

Some two days after this the whale was picked up 
near Cape Small Point, towed in, and put on exhibition. 
When found by the fishermen he had a big wound mid- 
wa}^ on the left side and several wounds on the back. 



132 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

He evidently died from what the doctors call heart 
failure, consequent upon the harpooning we gave him. 
It was my usual fortune with whales. I have had 
good luck in catching all other kinds of large fish, but 
whales have baffled me. I have been fast to several, 
but never succeeded in capturing one. However, the 
party enjoyed the sport hugely, and Judge Fox and 
his friends went on many a trip with me while I kept 
the " Nettle." 

How THE Black Cook Turned White. — The 
next trip out for big fishing I had no party excepting 
Capt. James Blake, a colored cook, and myself. We 
were some twenty-live miles south of Cape Elizabeth, 
when we saw a large school of blackfish, ran on to 
them, harpooned one of a good size, and took the line 
in the boat. I took the cook with me. The blackfish 
kept up with the school, towing fast. We hauled up 
to him and when he came up to blow I gave him the 
lance. Then he made the water fly high up in the air. 
I looked around to see if the cook was steering the 
boat and found he had turned white with fright. He 
begged me to cut the line and let the fish go. I told 
him when I got a little nearer I could kill it in a few 
minutes. W^e found that the fish would tow us up to 
Boon Island, so we hauled him roughly, to stop his 
speed, and the harpoon drew out. I think the cook 
was glad the fish got awa}-, for he came to his natural 
color at once. 

A REvScue at Half Way Rock. — When I first 
began stevedoring I collected ship news for the daily 
papers. While in the harbor one night a coaster came 
in, and reported that two gunners were on Half Way 
Rock, having lost their boat. He tried to rescue them, 
but the wind was blowing hard to the northwest and a 



A REvSCUE AT HALF WAY ROCK. 1 33 

rough sea raging, so he had to give up. The}^ would 
freeze that night, he said, if not taken off. I went to 
the revenue cutter and reported the case to the lieu- 
tenant, who said he would send to the Cape for Captain 
Waldron. In the morning I was up to the Observatory 
before daylight. The cutter was getting under way to 
go down. Oue of the men on the rock was Douglas, 
the well-known gunner. Both were taken oiT by the 
cutter's boat in safet}'. Thev were Harpswell men, 
who went to Half Wa}^ Rock in a Hampton boat, and 
punt to land in. Some time in the day a heavy squall 
came up and the boat went adrift. The^^ started in 
the punt to get the boat, but it upset and the two men 
swam ashore. The wind took the punt on shore so 
they turned it up on one side for shelter. Thej^ got 
some dry powder out of one of their powder horns and 
started a fire with what loose stuff they could gather. 
When that went out they ran to and fro over the rocks 
to keep warm. I don't see how the}- kept alive that 
bitter cold night with their clothing wet through. I 
have often thought of the night wheu I have been there 
with my friends on shooting trips. It will be seen by 
this that shooters on the water take chances; still it is 
not so dangerous as shooting in the woods, where 
gunners shoot on seeing the bushes move and often 
kill men in mistake for deer. I would rather trust 
myself on Half Way Rock than take to the bush with 
a careless man. 

Captain Sexter and the "Sparkle." — The 
fall of 1869 was good for sea game. Capt. W^illiam 
Senter and party with the yacht "Sparkle," and the 
pilot boat " Nettle " with a part}', went to New Meadows 
Bay, had great sport, and shot a large number of surf 
ducks. Mr. Senter was the life of the company. Wheu 




CAPT. WILLIAM SENTER. 



CAPTAIN SENTRR AND THE " SPARKLE." 135 

it was thick weather 1113- lantern was put over the boat's 
stern by night to keep in sight with each other. At 
times the two parties would make bets on the first 
3'acht to arrive and want me to help them. I said, 
"No, I never leave ni}- friend Captain Senter in thick 
weather. If you had asked me before starting, I 
should have told 3'ou to never bet against Captain 
Senter and the yacht ' Sparkle.' His 3'acht and mine 
have taken many friendly parties out for shooting and 
deep-sea-fishing trips." 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE PEAROnV OHSEQUIES. ARRIVAL OF THE "MONARCH" OFF PORT- 
LAND, AND SEVERE TRIP OF THE PILOT BOAT IN SEARCH OF 

HER. THE IMPRESSIVE NAVAL PROCESSION UP THE HARBOR. 

ADMIRAL FARRAGUT AND THE "TERROR." ANOTHER GREAT 

NAVAL PAGEANT. THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE'S HAT. 

^^N the 4tli of November, 1869, the cable brought 
intelligence of the death of George Peabody, the 
eminent philanthropist, who, b}- the rare simplicity of 
his life, his upright and honorable career as a merchant, 
and his broad and liberal charities, had endeared him- 
self to the English-speaking people of two continents. 

It was his last wish that his body should repose 
in his native state, Massachusetts; and, so, after a 
stately funeral in Westminster Abbey, his remains 
were brought to America on the great iron-clad " Mon- 
arch, " the pride of the British Navy, accompanied b}- 
American vessels of war, detailed as escort. Port- 
land was designated as the landing place. By joint 
resolution of Congress the President of the United 
States was authorized to make suitable preparations 
for the reception of the body, and a fitting portion of 
our fleet ordered to repair to Portland under command 
of Admiral Farragut, the ranking officer of the Ameri- 
can Navy. The " Miantonomah " and the "Terror" 
(formerly the " Agamenticus " ) were selected. 

I was appointed pilot by the Board of Trade, in 
case such service should be required b}^ the incoming 
fleet, and received my commission, signed by President 
Jonas H. Perley and Secretary M. N. Rich, on the 
29th of December, 1869. 



THE PEABODY FLEET ARRIVEvS. 1 37 

The Peabody Fleet ArrivEvS. — January 25, 
1870, I got a telegram saying that the "Monarch" 
and her escort, the " Plymouth," were off South Shoal 
light-ship. I got m^' boat read}^, took the mails at the 
post-office directed to the two vessels, and put out to 
meet them. Reporters of the XeW Y07'k Herald and 
Boston Globe ^ who were lying in wait, called to get a 
chance to go on the pilot boat with me. I declined to 
take them, on the plea that I couldn't tell how long we 
should be out; but took ]\Ir. L. H. Cobb, then of the 
Portland :)^dverliser and now editor of the Press. He 
was the only one I wished to take. IMy crew were 
Capt. William Small, Mr. Purington, and Mr. George 
Green, who was to pilot the "Plymouth" in. We 
started that afternoon, in a strong, northeast wind, with 
snow and sleet blowing. Three sails were carried. 

When near Bangs Island I heard a gun at sea. 
At Ram Island Ledge we took in the foresail, as the 
sea was getting verv rough. In sight of Bulwark Shoal 
it was breaking high. About that time a sharp, high 
comber came over the bow, tumbled down on deck, 
washed off the fore-scuttle hatch, and swept over the 
top of the house to the mainmast. Several barrels of 
water went down into the forecastle and struck a hot 
cook stove. Mr. Purington, who was in the cabin at 
the time, came running up and said that the bow was 
stove in. Captain Small at once put the hatch on and 
lashed it down, and I luffed up so the boat could shake 
the water off. When the steam cleared awa}- so I 
could see the cabin the water was about two feet deep 
on the floor. It looked hard for a few minutes, but the 
only thing to do was to keep cool. The pumps were 
rigged and set to work, and after a time we surmounted 
the danger. Meanwhile we kept off for the ships, as 
we could hear their guns at constant intervals. 



138 CAPTAIN BKn'vS book. 

Sighting the "Monarch." — After passing Cod 
Ledge some two miles we sighted the " Monarch " 
in the mist, made toward her, and shortly saw the 
"Plymouth" a short distance to her leeward. We 
passed under the lee of the " Monarch" and hailed her 
to send a boat for the mail and pilot. Presently we 
got aboard, and the "Plymouth" being signaled, Mr. 
Green was sent to her as pilot. By this time the snow 
was quite thick, and the captain on the "Monarch" 
hesitated whether to go in or haul off for the night- 
On my assurance he went ahead, and anchored in the 
lower harbor. 

Soon after we anchored, a government tug came 
along-side to render whatever assistance was needed. 
The captain of the "Monarch" wished me to see Ad- 
miral Farragut and ask him to take charge of the ship. 
This was about nine o'clock at night. I went ashore 
and found the Admiral at the Falmouth, where he 
made his quarters. The hotel corridors were filled 
with reporters and other curious people. The Admiral 
planned to have the ships come up the harbor, two 
abreast. On my reminding him how we sailed in the 
" Terror " ( then the " Agamenticus ") from Portsmouth 
some years before, and what a bad steering ship she 
was, he readily recalled the trip, and with a smile made 
his dispositions accordingl3\ About midnight he com- 
pleted his preparations to go to the United States ships, 
and I was ordered to the " Monarch." When I went 
out to her in the morning on the government tug the 
reporters from New York and Boston wanted to go 
with me, and I took them. I was glad to show them 
the depth of water in Portland Harbor at low tide, as 
a bitter controversy had been raging between Boston 
and New York papers as to the respective depths of 



ANOTHER GREAT NAVAL PAGEANT. 139 

water in those Harbors, each contending that a big 
battleship like the "Monarch" could not get into the 
waters of the other. The chance to show them the 
capacity of our harbor was too good to be missed. 

When the "Monarch" came up the water was 
low, as it happened, and I called the attention of the 
reporters to that fact, inviting them to stand by the 
man who was heaving the sounding lead. The shoal- 
est water we got all the way up was eight fathoms. 
They were much surprised at the depth and, I believe, 
made mention of the wonderful capabilities of Portland 
Harbor in their correspondence. 

The "Monarch" was escorted up the harbor bj^ 
the " Plymouth," " Miantonomah," and "Terror," and 
salutes repeatedly fired during the progress. By one 
of these discharges, in which sixt}^ pounds of powder 
were used, the glass windows in the pilot house of the 
"Miantonomah" were shattered, and the captain and 
pilot driven down on deck. The procession up to the 
wharves was the greatest naval pageant ever seen in 
these waters, and one never to be forgotten by those 
who witnessed it. Thousands of people crowded the 
wharves, and lined the streets through which the 
funeral cortege passed on its way to City Hall, where 
the body of the great philanthropist was to lie in state. 
It was one of those beautiful days, sometimes seen in a 
New England winter, when everything is encased in 
armor of frost. The rigging of the ships in the har- 
bor was covered with ice, the twigs of the trees were 
coated with it ; and as the sun struck upon them the 
spectacle was one beautiful to look upon. The city 
and the ships seemed sheathed in glass. 

Another Great Naval Pageant. — This was 
not the only great naval pageant in which I partici- 



140 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

pated. I had the pleasure, in i860, of piloting the 
British warship "Hero" into Portland Harbor, when 
that vessel came for the purpose of carrying back the 
Prince of Wales, who was just finishing his visit to 
these shores; and I also took in the battleship "Nile," 
sent from Halifax to act as the "Hero's" escort. 
When the Prince went on board and the yard-arms 
were manned, it was a pretty sight to see. He stood 
on the pilot bridge, going down the harbor, with the 
Duke of Newcastle by his side. The Duke's head-gear 
was novel to Western eyes, and the irreverent specta- 
tors raised a shout of "Oh, what a hat!" 

But however the hat looked, the manning of the 
yard-arms was as handsome a sight as I ever saw. 
The sailors sprang to their places in a moment, at the 
word of command, and remained there as still as statues 
while the ceremony was going on. The spectacle was 
witnessed by a great crowd of people, for the city was 
thronged during the Prince's brief visit. Many of our 
old citizens, then young, will remember the occasion 
and the gala appearance Portland presented. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

I BECOME AN INVENTOR, AND PATENT A LIFE-PRESERVER. 

ANOTHER FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR THE SEA SERPENT. A FUNNY 

FOURTH OF JULY IN PORTLAND. HOW THE HAND-ORGANS 

PLAYED IN LINCOLN PARK. AN EARNEST PLEA FOR LIGHT- 
HOUSE IMPROVEMENT. 

TX FTER having several close calls from being 
drowned I began to reflect that " self-preservation 
is the first law of nature," and so invented a rubber 
life-preserv^er, of which the accompanying cut conveys 
a good idea, and had it patented. It has been pro- 
nounced the neatest and most convenient article of the 
kind ever found of practical use. Its advantages over 
the ordinary belt life-preserver lie in the peculiarity' of 
construction, which retains the flat, belt-like shape 
when inflated, its exceeding lightness, and its compact- 
ness. In the diagram the sectional view shows the 
walls, which keep it in form; the partitions being per- 
forated so as to allow the air to pass freely to all parts. 
It is so compact that it can be worn under the 
clothing, either about the waist or under the arms, 
without discovery, being secured in position by tapes 
as shown in the diagram. The inflating tube is flexi- 
ble, and when the time for use arrives can be inflated 
in an instant ; the wearer thus being prepared at once 
for the emergency. It has been found of especial ben- 
efit to bathers, as its size and form when inflated are 
such as not to impede the motions of the swimmer, 
and in cases of cramp has rendered inestimable service. 
I had it made in six sizes, from thirty-two to fort3'-four 



MV CRUIvSE FOR THE SEA vSERPENT. 143 

inches in length, each when inflated being only two 
inches thick; and it proved very popular with sea- 
faring men and all whom business or pleasure leads 
upon the water. 

The summer of 187 1 the pilot boat was used for 
fishing and sailing parties to the islands, and longer 
cruises along the coast. That fall I took the Richards 
brothers, who came down river from Richmond in a 
cat-boat, on a gunning excursion which lasted ten days. 
We had good sport and secured lots of game. The 
summer of 1872 was also good for fishing, and the luck 
was satisfactory. The sea serpent was reported off the 
coast this vear, and I cruised two days for him, but 
failed to catch a glimpse of the monster. 

My Cruise for the Sea Serpent. — In the 
summer of 1873, if I remember rightly, the sea serpent 
was again reported, off Boon Island this time. As my 
boat was receiving new rigging, I called on Captain 
Paul, of the yacht "Viva," to see if he would go out. 
He could not, but gave me the use of his yacht to 
cruise as long as I pleased. I got the following crew: 
K. D. Atwood, Alex Taylor, Theophilus Hopkins, E. 
Smith, and one or two others, with Mr. George O. 
Gosse as passenger. We cruised between Wood Island 
and Boon Island the first day, anchoring at Wood 
Island that night. The next morning we got under 
way, cruising broad off shore and to the eastward. 
When off Seguin we learned that the serpent had been 
seen the day before. We cruised as far east as Mon- 
hegan Island, and not seeing anything came home. 
The same day that we started for home, as we learned 
afterwards, the serpent was seen about eight or ten 
miles to the eastward of us. He was seen by two or 
three captains of fishing vessels. They were in sight 



144 CAPTAIN BEn'vS book. 

of liim some two or three hours, and one of the schoon- 
ers started in search, but the wind being light could 
not gain on him. All who saw him give the same 
description of his head and neck, and sa}^ that he was 
going about four miles an hour, but as to the body 
and length they vary. They agree that he was only 
seen on calm, hot days. 

I was well prepared with all kinds of implements 
and four hundred fathoms of line, and I had my mind 
made up not to harpoon him until near enough to the 
head to strike him between the eyes and destroy his 
sight at first stroke, and take ni}' chances to back off 
from the lashing of his tail. When clear of the tail, I 
would give him all of the line by putting half barrels 
on each one-hundred-fathom section. Then I could 
watch his movements from the first half barrel and 
wait and let the iron do the killing. But the chance 
to test this plan never came. This season the serpent 
came on the coast with the herring and went east into 
the Ba3^ of Fundy, in which he was seen several times 
during the summer. He went off the coast when the 
herring went. The last time he was reported was by 
one of our New York steamers when within about thirty 
miles of Cape Cod. It is my opinion that his native 
home is deep in the ocean and that he only comes up 
after food, near the surface, and perhaps at long inter- 
vals. If not a real sea serpent he has a head and neck 
resembling one, and is certainly a strange monster of 
the deep. 

Though a great man}- disbelieve in the existence 
of the sea serpent there are numerous and well-authen- 
ticated instances in which he has been seen. No longer 
ago than 1833 five officers of the British arm}^ sailed in 
a yacht on a fishing excursion out of Halifax, Nova 



HOW THE HAND-ORGANS TLAYED. 145 

Scotia. They got out farther to sea than the}^ wished, 
and were returning in the afternoon when their atten- 
tion was called to leeward b}^ an exclamation of the 
old sailor who was acting as steersman of the boat. 
Looking to leeward the}^ beheld, according to their 
sworn testimony sent to the London Zoologisi, "at the 
distance of one hundred and fifty to two hundred yards, 
on our starboard bow, the head and neck of some deni- 
zen of the deep, precisely like those of a common snake, 
in the act of swimming, the head so far elevated and 
thrown forward by the curve of the neck as to enable 
us to see the water under and be^-ond it. The creature 
rapidl}' passed, leaving a regular wake, from the com- 
mencement of which to the forepart, which was out of 
the water, we judged its length to be about eighty feet, 
and this is within rather than beyond the mark. It is 
most difficult to give correctly the dimensions of an}' 
object in the water; but the head of the creature 
appeared to be about six feet in length, and the portion 
of the neck we saw the same. In thickness the neck 
equaled the trunk of a moderate-sized tree. The head 
and neck were of a dark brown or nearly black color, 
streaked with white in irregular streaks." 

How THE Hand-Organs Played in Lincoln 
Park. — In the summer of 1873 our cit}^ government 
held some storni}' meetings concerning a celebration 
on the Fourth of July, but failed to raise any mone3^ 
We boys, j^oung and old, were not satisfied with simph^ 
ringing of bells, so several of us " chipped in" to have 
some fun and a good celebration at not much expense. 
We sent a telegram to Boston to Mr. W. T. Brown, to 
see for what price he could get twenty hand-organs 
to come to Portland and play all day. The price given 
was five dollars each and expenses. We sent for 



146 CAPTAIN BEn'vS book. 

tlieiii to be here in the morning on the Boston boat. I 
called on Maj^or Wescott, and got a permit to pnt the 
bands in Lincoln Park. He said that Chandler's Band 
was engaged to give a concert in the evening. I 
promised him we would take our bands off the park b}^ 
six o'clock in the afternoon and send them back to 
Boston by the seven o'clock boat. I left him laughing. 

The evening and morning papers had notices that 
twenty bands were coming from Boston on the steamer 
to play in Lincoln Park, and that the best German and 
Italian music might be expected. On the arrival of 
the hand-organs here the}" were escorted from the boat 
to Mr. Bibber's, on India Street. At seven o'clock in 
the morning they were escorted to the park with orders 
to receive no money from the public on penalty of 
being discharged. On arrival at the park they were 
placed side by side, and the tunes permitted to mix. 
Bight of them were placed around the fountain and 
the others at the different walks coming into the park. 
There they stood five hours in the forenoon and five 
in the afternoon, not saying a word to any one and 
playing away for dear life. I have never seen so 
many people in the park since it was opened. It was 
crowded all day, as there was no other spot in the whole 
cit}^ to see any fun. Everybody I met felt pleased 
with the music and the crowd went off the park shout- 
ing with laughter. The bands were paid off at Bibber's, 
highly pleased with their pay and treatment and wish- 
ing to come again. 

I am in favor of a fair celebration on the Fourth 
of July. It brings lots of mone}- into the city and 
some, even many, get a benefit in all kinds of trade. 
Our citizens here are paying taxes to run the city gov- 
ernment, and our city fathers should do something to 



OUR LIGHT-HOUSES. 147 

celebrate one day in the year at least. If they want a 
cheap celebration, I advise them to send to Boston and 
get an army of hand-organs at five dollars apiece and 
expenses. Many teams were on this occasion offered 
us free to take the organs and march around town, 
more particularly to serenade those gentlemen that 
voted against a celebration. 

Our Light-Houses. — In the course of these 
recollections considerable has been said of our lieht- 
houses, and further facts concerning those most famil- 
iar may be of interest. The building of Portland 
Head Light-house began in 1788, and it was finished 
and first lighted Januar}^ 10, 1791. 

The building of Half Way Rock Light-house 
began in 1869, and it was first lighted August 15, 
187 1. This light is very valuable to masters and pilots 
coming into Portland from the east, and no doubt has 
saved many lives and a large amount of property. By 
its aid vessels get into port or shelter from strong gales, 
when otherwise thej^ would have to haul off from the 
coast and take the consequences. Many coasters, 
perhaps most, are not prepared to meet bad gales. 

The light-house board made a bad mistake in 
1855, when the western Cape Light was discontinued. 
Captains on long voj^ages and unaware of the change 
w^ould, on reaching the coast by night and seeing but 
one light, invariably keep off if the wind were fair, and 
go to Seguin. There, too, they would find but one 
light, and in consequence would be completeh^ puzzled 
as to their position. Several vessels came near being 
wrecked b}^ the change. In 1856 the pilots and 
masters petitioned Congress for a return of the old 
method of lighting, and the change back to two lights 
was made. 



148 CAPTAIN BE;n'S book. 

Portland Head Liglit has been cnt down twenty 
feet (I think twice, the last time in 1883) and the 
power reduced from second order to fourth order lens. 
It could not be seen far in even clear weather. Mr. 
Robinson's house near Pond Cove used to have a lamp 
at the window which was as bright as that at the Head. 
Probably they used dogfish oil. After continual pro- 
test by pilots and masters a reef was shook out and 
hoisted up twenty feet and the second power lens put 
back. There has been no change since, and I hope 
there never will be again, as the light is satisfactory^ 
to all mariners. While I was in the pilot boat " Nettle " 
I had a good chance to see the lights, and cheerfully 
give all the light-house keepers credit for keeping the 
lights in first-class order. I don't cruise outside nowa- 
days, but think of those who do. People who stay at 
home and live in rooms kept at seventy to seventj^-five 
degrees of heat don't know much about the weather 
outside, or the hardships on the water in the cold 
winters. 

An Earnest Plea for the Fog-Bell. — Mas- 
ters and pilots need a good bell on the Breakwater, but 
some of our light-house inspectors are opposed to it. 
A strong petition has been offered and ignored. It 
should be heeded. Portland Harbor will never be as it 
should be until a decent bell that can be heard is put 
up and a light at Spring Point. I may not need it, but 
those who follow me will. No less than two and a half 
million people pass in and out of this harbor yearly, 
and a great amount of property is carried to and fro. 
Big ocean carriers in winter, passenger and pleasure 
boats in summer, costly yachts from New York and all 
along the coast, ply our waters. It is criminal to put 
all this to risk, I am surprised that au}' government 



AN EARNEST PLEA FOR THE FOG-BELL. 1 49 

officer sent to observe this coast and its harbors shonld 
think a proper bell dangerous or misleading, and as 
long as I live shall never cease to work for it. When 
I am gone I hope my friends will keep the good work 
tip until our masters and jDilots have what the^' and 
the public need for the protection of life and propert}^ 

The bell buoj- put near the Breakwater b}^ the 
government in 1893 is entirely- useless for its destined 
purpose, though it might do well enough as a roost for 
the swans that swim in the little pond in Deering's 
Oaks. Side-wheel steamers, after passing the buoy, 
sometimes ring the bell by the motion of their wheels 
in the water ; but propellers and sailing vessels would 
have to run into it to make it sound. 

I am glad to learn that the government is about 
to place a bell on Stanford Ledge to be rung by elec- 
tricity. It has been needed for ^^ears, and steamboat 
captains and pilots will rejoice. When a light and 
bell have been placed on Spring Point Ledge they will 
rejoice still more, and feel safe in entering our harbor 
in an}' weather, no matter how thick. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

DAYS WHEN A HOOSHf:AD OF COAL LASTED PORTLAND A WHOLE 

SEASON. MR. SAMUEL E. SPRING AND THE GOVERNMENT SALE 

OF CIGARS. GUNNING ON RICHMOND ISLAND. FORMATION OF 

THE WILLARD SHOOTING ASSOCIATION. PAT AND THE LOON. 

"PvURING all these years the stevedoring business in 
Portland had increased, steam-hoisting engines 
largely taking the place of horses. The coal trade 
steadily developed, until it has now reached unexpected 
proportions. It was about 1826, I am told, that Capt. 
John Waite brought the first hard coal to Portland 
from Philadelphia in a hogshead lashed on his quarter- 
deck. He brought, too, an open-grate stove to burn it 
in; and when he started the fire all the neighbors 
flocked to his house to see him burn "the rocks," as 
they called them. The next year he brought sixty 
tons and several more stoves. When I began steve- 
doring, in 1853, about 11,000 tons were brought to this 
port. In 1894 the total number was 653,000, and the 
demand is constantly increasing. 

A Curious Transaction in Cigars. — But coal 
was not the only commodity I handled. Many 3'ears 
ago the government sold over 200,000 cigars, stored in 
a warehouse on Atlantic Wharf. The day before the 
sale people had the privilege of sampling them, and 
Mr. Samuel H. Spring called on me to go down with 
him. On going through the cigars we came across 
one lot of 40,000, with a rough wrapper on them, and 
on cutting the cigars open found long fillers and splen- 
did tobacco. The most of them were fancy brands 



A CURIOUvS TRANSACTION IN CIGARS. I5I 

with smooth and handsome wrappers, but filled with 
poor tobacco. This lot was an exception. Mr. Spring 
said to me if he bought any I could have them at cost. 
The fancy brands were sold first. The bidder was to 
take nothing less than 5,000, but more if he so wished. 
When the 40,000 were sold there was slow bidding; 
those present supposing that Mr. Spring, who made a 
bid, only wanted a small lot for his own use. 

The cigars were sold to Air. Spring, and when 
asked how man}- he wanted he said he would take the 
lot, and asked me how man}^ I would take. I told him 
5,000. A few days later my friend, Doctor Gale, wanted 
200 or 300 to try the brand, and I sold them to him. 
Shortly after a Custom House officer called on me and 
asked me if I sold some cigars to Doctor Gale. I told 
him that I did. He said that he should have to impose 
a fine on me for selling cigars without the government 
stamp. I told him that I did not know that I was 
liable, as I bought them for ni}^ own use and was not 
in the habit of selling cigars, but let the doctor have 
those to try. I asked him if he was joking or in ear- 
nest. He said he was in earnest, and was quite stiff 
about it. I told him the cigars were bought b}^ Mr. 
S. E. Spring at government auction at Atlantic Wharf 
some days before. He asked, "Are these the cigars? " 
I told him they were, and that was the last that I 
heard about the matter. 

Sometime in the seventies Collector Washburn 
thought I was a smuggler, and put me under one 
thousand dollar bonds, Mr. William Senter becoming 
niy bondsman. I was much surprised at the charge, 
but discovered subsequently that it was made to divert 
the attention of the real offenders and give the officers 
a chance to pounce upon them. 



152 CAPTAIN BEnVs book. 

Gunning and Game on Richmond's Island. — 
In the spring of 1879 we gnnners chartered the sloop 
" Rocky Monntain," Capt. Ben Hamilton, to go for a 
shooting trip. We were all day getting to Richmond's 
Island. Game was plentiful and we had fine sport. 
Mr. J. F. Randall and Capt. Ben Hamilton in one boat, 
Joseph F. Fowler and myself in the other, went near the 
Kirkwood House and had our decoys all set before day- 
light. As soon as daylight the game came plenty and 
over the decoys, near enough to see their eyes. Fowler 
would shoot on his side of the boat, and I on mine. 
He would let go two barrels and I the same. I would 
ask, "What j^ou got, Fowler?" He would say, "Noth- 
ing, what you got?" "Nothing," would be my reply. 
The fact was we could not shoot well on the wing, but 
we had a good chance to practice and kept at it. 
Sometimes a large flock would come near and we 
would give them four barrels, bring down five or six, 
and get them. They were so thick that the shot would 
take them three or four feet from where we pointed. 
So we were shooting behind them. When one would 
light at the decoys we had him. We used muzzle- 
loaders, but this time I had Mr. George Round's breech- 
loader. The game would come right back again 
before we could load the muzzle-loaders, and by having 
the two guns I got mixed up a little. As my gun was 
half loaded when the game came I would pick up the 
breech-loader and fire. Finally I got two charges of 
shot in one barrel and two of pow^der in the other. 
When game came one barrel would not kill and the 
other would not go off. Then Fowler had the laugh 
on me. At noon, when our ammunition gave out, w^e 
had about twenty birds, mostly of the coot species. We 
went on board to dinner, got a new supply of amniuni- 



ADVANTAGES OF PO.SSESSING A BAROMETER. 1 53 

tion, went back, and set the decoys. The game came 
as flush as ever. I left the breech-loader on board as 
the cartridges gave out, and used the muzzle-loader. 
We had better luck in the afternoon until I lost my 
ramrod while ramming the wad down. The air sent it 
some fifteen feet overboard. So after that Fowler 
would shoot and I would pick them up. I really think 
if we had been good for shooting on the wing with 
breech-loaders, we could have got a boat full. During 
the day we got thirty-eight game, and thought we did 
well, as our boat was high line. I think if Randall 
and Hamilton had had our places they could have got 
a hundred. We all had great sport and good weather. 
The party in three da3'S got some over two hundred 
game. 

The Advantages of Possessing a Barometer. 
— May 17, t88o, the yacht " T. B. Davis" was char- 
tered with Capt. Nat Haskell for a shooting trip, and 
carried the following party: J. F. Randall, Joseph F. 
Fowler, George Stanwood, Ben Hamilton, Ta^dor, and 
myself. We had good sport. Late one afternoon we 
anchored at Stratton Island. The wind was southwest 
with not a cloud to be seen. After supper Mr. Randall 
and some of the party went on shore to get milk and 
eggs. Soon after they left I looked at the barometer 
and saw it was falling fast and a gale near at hand. 
Presently the boat came off. At this time it was calm. 
I told them to hoist the boats on deck. We would 
hoist in two and tow one. Several said it would be a 
good night to lay there ; but I told them it was no har- 
bor for a north wind, and the anchor would not hold 
her off the rocks. The first whiff of wind we got 
under wa}^ to go to Richmond's Harbor. Before we 
got a mile from Stratton Island the wnnd came with a 



154 CAPTAIN BEn'vS book. 

rusli and we had to shorten sail at once. It was a cold 
north wind, and when w^e anchored at Richmond's 
Harbor it took both anchors to hold her. The wind 
was a gale with plenty of white caps on the water. 
The next day was good for gunning and game. We 
gunned in the forenoon and came home in the after- 
noon with all the game we wanted ; and when we arrived 
home, all that wanted a pair of birds had them free. 
It was fun to see the game go up Commercial Street. 
Everybody knew that the gunners had got home. 

This shows the advantage of a barometer. I got 
one in 1859, when I bought the pilot boat "Nettle," 
have made a close study of it ever since, and still keep 
it. The farmers should have one to tell them when to 
cut the grass. Oftentimes they cut it on a high glass 
because it is clear and hot weather. Then come east 
winds and fog, and the grass turns black before they get 
sun to make it. Should the sun come out at noon for a 
short time it heats the grass, which is bad for the hay. 

May 7, 1881, the fishing schooner "Agnes Bell" 
was chartered by our gunning part}^ for a fourteen 
days' cruise to the eastward. We wanted to go to 
Point La Prow for brant shooting, but were baffled. 
We had the wind east and raining most of the time, 
and the barometer was high all of the trip. G. F. 
Loveitt and myself thought we would open the barom- 
eter to see if we could get better weather. On turning 
a screw on the back she went down to t3^phoon mark ; 
so we turned back the screw and let her rest. We got 
as far east as Crumple Island and went ashore to see 
the Portland gunning part}^ which was there. IVIr. 
Martin, who was of the party, treated me to a pop 
cocktail. I can't say what the others took. I give 
this party credit for saving lives from wrecks in a gale, 




J. N. MARTIN, PRESIDENT OF THE WILLARD SHOOTING ASSOCIATION. 



156 CAPTAIN BEn'vS book. 

when on one of these cruises, by going to an island 
inside, breaking in the door of the life-saving boat- 
house, getting the life-boat out, and saving the crews. 
The life savers were off pay until fall, and so no one 
was at the station. After that government bought 
part of Crumple Island, as it was an outside island. 

During our trip east we only captured one hun- 
dred and thirt}^ sea game. On the way home we saw 
lots of game, but it was too rough and rainy to go in 
small boats for them. 

The Willard Shooting ASvSoctation. — ^January 
27, 1881, the Willard Shooting Association was organ- 
ized with Mr. J. N. Martin, President, and Capt. B. J. 
Willard, Vice-President. The association leased land 
of Ami Whitney, in Falmouth Foreside, and put up a 
club-house that cost $250. After the house was built 
and ready we had fine sport shooting glass balls from 
the trap for practice. We invited other clubs from the 
state and had good, friendly shoots on our grounds. 
During 1882 we returned their visits. 

April 19, 1883, we had a very interesting match 
game at the club grounds at Falmouth with the River- 
side Club of Topsham, Me. The match was ver}' close 
and the score as follows: 

WILLARD SHOOTINC; ASSOCIATION. 
Single pigeons, 20. Double pigeons, 8 Glass balls, 20. Total, 40 birds. 

Randall, 17 19 Total, 36 

Willard, ....... 20 17 "37 

Harmon, 19 17 "36 

Todd, 16 15 "31 

McKenney, 15 15 "30 

Davis, 17 16 ''33 

Martin, 15 17 " 32 

Noyes, 15 16 " 31 



PAT AND THE BIG DUCK. 1 57 

F. Merrill, 15 17 Total, 32 

Deane, 13 16 "29 

Hawkins, 16 17 ^^53 

Hall, 13 13 "26 

Day, 14 19 ''33 

205 214 419 

RIVERSIDE CLUB. 
Single pigeons, 20. Double pigeons, 8. Glass balls, 20. Total, 40 birds. 

C. L. York, 14 14 Total, 28 

A. L. Goud, 15 18 ''33 

C. Goud, 15 17 "32 

G. Goud, 18 14 "32 

A. Hall, 16 16 "32 

Mc. Hall, 19 17 "36 

C. Winslow, 15 15 "30 

A. Perry, 16 16 " 32 

C. Hayes, 20 16 "36 

S. Knight, 14 18 " 32 

H. Stetson, 15 15 "30 

G. E. Keene, 12 n "23 

S. Strout, 15 16 " 31 

204 203 407 

Pat and the Big DucK.^May 5, 1882, we gun- 
ners chartered the pilot boat "Maggie," Captain Poor, 
to go shooting between Richmond Island and Wood 
Island. The party consisted of J. F. Randall, J. F. 
Fowler, Mr. Farrington, and m3'self. Randall and 
Fowler went in one boat, G. F. Loveitt and myself in 
another; Farrington with Captain Poor. We had the 
best fun shooting that we had seen for a long time. 
Loveitt and myself bagged fiftj^-two sea game in two 
and one-half hours at what is called "Old Proprietor." 
The game came so fast our guns got hot, so they were 
uncomfortable to handle. After shooting four days we 



158 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

returned home, having three hundred and thirteen 
birds total, ninety-six of which were old squaws. 
When we were at the wharf all parties coming for 
birds were given a pair, and the birds were flying all 
over the city. I saw a man on the wharf by the name 
of Pat and asked him if he did not want a mess of 
birds. He said he did, and I told him to come down 
the ladder and get them. I gave him two, and Pat 
asked me what I was going to do with that big duck. 
I told him he could have him if he wished. The big 
duck was a monstrous big loon, nearly three feet long. 
When Pat got on the wharf he took the pair of birds 
in one hand and the loon by the legs in the other, its 
head dragging on the ground. I never learned how 
Pat got the feathers off from him. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

HOW THE "BROOKLYN" STRUCK ON HOO ISLAND LEDGE. OLD 

NEPTUNE VISITS THE PILOT BOAT " MAGGIE " AND SHAVES THE 

PASSENGERS. MR. STROUT's ENCOUNTER WITH A SWORD-FISH. 

SOMETHING ABOUT SPANISH MACKEREL. 

TTBOUT eleven o'clock the night of April 6, 1S83, 
the steamship "Brooklyn" of the Dominion Line 
steamed out to sea on her way across the Atlantic — a 
trip she was not destined to complete that time trying. 
Being the stevedore for the line, I was on the wharf 
with Captain Reed and Messrs. Torrance and Scanlan 
to see the ship off, and then went home. 

About midnight my door bell rang violently, and 
on answering it I found ]\Ir. Dufriends, who said that 
the "Brookhm" was in trouble down the harbor and 
sending up rockets. He wanted to get a tug boat to 
go to her relief. Mr. Torrance soon after drove up in 
a hack, and we went to Capt. A. S. Oliver to engage 
the tow-boat " Express." As soon as steam was up we 
started. Our supposition was that the "Brooklyn" 
had run into some vessel, and then anchored; but we 
found her ashore on the southwest point of Hog Island 
Ledge. Returning to the city, we took a team to look 
up lighters to go down in the morning as soon as pos- 
sible to lighten the cargo. We tried to get Captain 
Hamilton's sloop, the "M. M. Hamilton," but she was 
being stripped to receive a gang of rigging. So we 
went to Knightville, to the house of another Captain 
Hamilton, and secured all the lighters we wanted, five 
or six in number. The cargo was promptly discharged. 





■v./ 



J 



CAPTAIN WILLARD AS NEPTUNE. 



AN INTERVIEW WITH OLD NEPTUNE. l6l 

landed at the Grand Trunk sheds, and later sold at 
auction. The Boston steamer was obtained from Mr. 
Coyle to take out the live stock. The work went on 
night and da}^, and gave emplo3'ment to a large num- 
ber of men. At the same time I had two ships at the 
wharf, making the largest pay-roll I ever had in one 
week since going into the stevedoring business. I had 
Mr. Albert B. Hall with me to assist in pa\dng off the 
laborers. The "Brookljai" was discharged, floated, 
and put into the dry dock, where temporar^^ repairs 
were made to enable her to cross the ocean. 

An Interview with Old Neptune- — ^lay ii, 
1883, a party consisting of J. F. Randall, Doctor Cuni- 
mings. Doctor Merrill, Dr. George Fyre, J. F. Fowler, 
G. F. Loveitt, H. Trefethen, and myself went on a six 
days' shooting trip in the pilot boat "Maggie," Captain 
Parsons. We found sport good and bagged four hun- 
dred and sixty-six sea game, the birds being given 
away to those who wished for them when we got home. 

Our next trip gunning in the "IMaggie" was with 
about the same party. I found that the most of our 
sailors had never crossed the equator, so thought I 
would have some fun. I called at Littlefield's and got 
a suit to dress up as Neptune; a mask, long, gray 
beard, wig to match, a comical hat, and a suit to go 
with it. This was put on board the boat in charge of 
the cook, who was enjoined not to let the party know 
anything about it. I called on Lyman, Son & Tobe}^ 
for a speaking trumpet, and Mr. Guptill made me- a 
present of one, I had a nice razor for the occasion, 
one that I captured at a whist party as a booby prize. 
I let Mr. Toveitt into the secret, and told him when 
Neptune hailed the ship "Maggie" to call all the sail- 
ors on deck. Wood Island Pool was to answer for the 




t^^- 



LONG HOURS AND SWEET SLEEP. 163 

equator. So one morning after breakfast, while the 
party in the cabin were having a smoke, I went on 
deck to the forecastle and told the cook to pass up my 
box. I dressed up as Neptune. When ready I hailed 
the ship " Maggie." Loveitt came out of the gangway 
and called all hands on deck. When on deck I in- 
formed them that all sailors who had never crossed the 
equator before would be shaved by Neptune. When 
the razor was taken oilt of the case it was found to be 
nearly two feet in length. As I advanced aft to per- 
form the shaving Doctor Merrill was frightened and 
started to jump overboard. ]\Ir. Randall caught him 
by the coat and I advanced and gave a dry shave. 
The usual custom is to use strong-smelling slush for 
lather. I looked around for Doctor Frye and he had 
slunk into the cabin. I sent the quartermaster after 
him and he brought him up. About the time I got 
through shaving the sailors, Mr. Hussey, of Wood 
Island Pool, rowed off with some clams for the party. 
When he got sight of Neptune he started to row away. 
Neptune told him to come back for he would not hurt 
him. Mr. Hussey said that he had read a good deal 
about Neptune, but never saw him before. 

Long Hours and Sweet Sleep. — I would give 
the morning call at i A. M., for the gunners to turn 
out, breakfast at 1.30, and start away in their gunning 
boats at 2 with lunch and coffee to get on the gunning 
ground and have the decoy set b}- daylight, so as to 
be ready to shoot when the game came. Each boat 
would try to get ahead of the other in bagging game. 
Usually we got back to the pilot boat about 4 P. M., 
and counted the game. Then it was clean up the guns 
and get read}' for the next day, and then have supper. 
By this time the party would be pretty tired, so all 
slept well. 



164 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

We had one good rule and kept it strictl}-, and 
that was that no gunner should pass his gun from tlie 
pilot boat to his boat loaded, or from small boat to pilot 
boat loaded. The penalty for violation of this rule was 
a dollar fine. By this means we never had any acci- 
dents by shooting. When two men were in the boat 
the man forward would keep the muzzle of his gun 
pointing forward, and the man aft, the muzzle of his 
pointed aft ; so if a gun should be accidentall}- dis- 
charged nobody would get hurt. I believe ]\Ir. Fowler 
once shot a dory bird, and Mr. Randall a boat bird. 
On this trip the total number of birds bagged was 
three hundred and seventy-two, mostly old squaws. 
There were only sixteen coots in the lot. 

May 7, 1887, the party was smaller and we gunned 
two days, getting one hundred and eleven birds. May 
10, 1888, was the last gunning trip I made in the 
^'Maggie," when we got two hundred and eighty-eight 
birds. 

Sword-Fishing by Steaini. — In the summer of 
1883 I built a steam water boat, called the "Fannie 
G.," to tow and fill water in my hoisting scows, and 
September 2, 1884, made my first sword-fish trip in her 
with Capt. D. Peterson and the following party : Hon. 
A. A. Strout, Mr. John B. Curtis, John Bacon, of Illi- 
nois, William Taylor, A. H. Mantine, T. E. Sumner, 
of New York, and H. T. Strout. We left Portland at 
eight o'clock in the morning. 

Sword-fish was reported off Cape Porpoise. When 
off Boon Island we saw one, but could not get near 
him. In the afternoon the wind breezed up, and it was 
some choppy. We harbored at Portsmouth and the 
party stopped at a hotel. We took in coal and water 
for the next da}^ At two o'clock in the morning we 



SWORD-KISHING BY STEAM. 165 

Started down ri\er, steamed off to the south of the Isle 
of Shoals, among several vessels looking for sword-fish, 
and steamed to the northeast. About ten o'clock we 
sighted a fish, harpooned him, and soon had him on 
board. About eleven, in running down towards Boon 
Island, I saw another under water and had just time to 
harpoon him. The boat was stopped and backed. We 
hauled him along-side, put gaffs in him, and pulled 
him on board. He la}' still, and I got another iron 
read}" and got out to the pulpit to look for more. As 
the part^' gathered around the fish he all at once began 
to jump, and I thought that he would jump overboard. 
In jumping he knocked Mr. Curtis, Mr. Strout, and 
one other man down on deck. I got in as soon as 
possible, took a club and hit him on his sword, which 
stilled him. It was fun to see the part}- run aft. I 
had to laugh heartil}-. Some minutes later Mr. Strout 
said, "Ben, I believe you did that on purpose." 

Later we saw one more, but could not get on him, 
as all the fish were shy at sight of so many vessels after 
them. By this time it was getting late in the after- 
noon and we had a long way to go to Portland. When 
near Boon Island Ledge I told the party that this ledge 
was famous for rock cod in summer, so the}- wished to 
try it. We had good bait on ice. We hove to, and as 
soon as the lines went down to the bottom there was a 
good-sized cod-fish on the hook. Not having any tub 
to put them into, they were put on the deck until it 
was covered half-knee deep. The part}' enjoyed the 
sport hugely. I had hard work to get Curtis and 
Strout to start for home. I think that they would have 
kept on fishing until dark. We finally got started. 
During the two days water and weather were all that 
could be asked for, and the trip will long be remem- 



l66 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

bered b}^ all on board. The part}^ arrived at Portland 
near eight o'clock in the evening. The next morning 
the sword-iish were landed. One weighed abont five 
hnndred pounds, and the smallest one tw^o hundred 
and seventj^-seven pounds. The cod was given to 
friends. Most of the party never saw large fish capt- 
ured before, and some were never on salt water until 
this trip, so you see it was a great sight for them. A 
trip like this is good for a business man, allowing him 
to escape from business cares, and he never forgets it. 

Feeding GrounDvS of Sword-Fish. — I have 
been asked to give the different feeding grounds for 
sword-fish. They are known to be plenty off the south- 
east coast of Japan. Some are found to the north of 
New Zealand. They are also seen to the w^est of Mex- 
ico and from Newfoundland along the east coast of 
North and South America to the river La Plata. They 
are again found from Norway on the west coast of 
Europe, and south around Africa up the east coast to 
the Red Sea. A few are on the west coast of Ceylon, 
a few in the China Sea, and in the South Atlantic 
along twent}' degrees west and twenty south latitude. 
As a centre they appear to spread over a surface of six 
hundred miles square. This is about half way from 
the Isle of St. Helena to the coast of South America. 

SpanIvSh Mackerel. — As to Spanish mackerel we 
find the following in the "Fisherman's Memorial and 
Record Book," which gives an idea of the abundance 
of the species in Massachusetts Bay in the earl}' part 
of the present centur}^ : "In 1812 a large school of 
Spanish mackerel visited this bay ; and so plenty and 
numerous were they that they would bite readil\' at the 
bare hooks, and seize upon small bits of line hanging 



1 68 CAPTAIN ben\s book. 

from the vessel. Standing-room boats were then mostly 
in use, holding from fifteen to twenty tons. These 
rooms held from fifteen to twenty barrels and the crews 
wonld catch them fnll in a few honrs. IMr. Timothy, 
at Rowe's Bank, at Gloncester, Mass., bonght most of 
these mackerel fresh, after being dressed, at two cents 
a pound, salting them in his building; and the busi- 
ness, which lasted two months, was a lively one." 
These mackerel did not continue on this coast more 
than a few years and have now almost entirely dis- 
appeared. There were a few caught with the other 
mackerel as late as 1825, since which time it is very 
rare to see one during the entire season. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE SCHOONER " B. J. WILLARD" AND HER FORTUNES. HOW- 
STEAMERS HAVE TAKEN I'HE FREIOHIS FROM SAILING VESSELS. 
THE WAY IN WHICH I CELEBRATED THE RORTLAND CENTEN- 
NIAL. ABOUT THE WATER BOAT "FANNIE O." SUNFISH AND 

THEIR CURIOUS FORMATION. 

^pHH schooner " B. J. Willard" was contracted for by 
my brother Charles, who was lost at sea abont a 
month after making his contract, while on his way 
from Philadelphia to Portland in his schooner " Georgie 
Deering." He was overtaken by a heavy gale from 
the northeast in the vicinit}^ of Cape Cod, on the 9th 
of March, 1872, and no tidings of the crew or vessel 
have come from that day to this. 

My nephew, B. F. Woodbnrj^, soon after took 
charge of building and fitting her for sea, and went 
master. She sailed from Bath, Me., with a cargo of 
ice for Philadelphia, September 20, 1872, on her first 
voyage. The last of November, 1876, we sold her to 
Bolton, Bliss & Dallett, for a packet to run between 
New York and Venezuelan ports. In about two years' 
time the firm were compelled to put on a line of steam- 
ers or lose their business. The "Willard," with the 
rest of the sailing vessels, was sold. In 1879 she 
became a total Avreck upon a reef near a salt port in 
the Mediterranean. While we owned her she ran with 
few mishaps. 

It may be of interest to some of my friends to read 
her record. She was one of the first three-masted 
schooners built and owned in Portland. At the time 



THE SCHOONER "b. J. WILLARD." T71 

she was building, tlie Bath ship-owners looked upon 
three-masted schooners in disgust, although their 
builders were building, that 3- ear, quite a fleet of this 
class of vessels for Cape Cod, Taunton, and New Jersey 
captains, on contract. It did not take the ship-owners 
long to see there was more money in this class of 
vessels than in their larger wooden ships which had to 
come in competition with English iron ships which 
were given a preference of five shillings per ton freight, 
besides favor given by English Lloyds insurance com- 
panies. The " Willard" was built to carry 500 tons of 
coal. At that time this size of vessel was considered a 
large vessel, and we were bothered to get that much 
cargo very often. She was built to run as a packet 
between Portland and Philadelphia. There was a nice 
business in out freights of mackerel, herring, oil car- 
peting, shovel handles, canned corn, and sundry other 
goods; freights back to Portland, on coal, var3dng from 
$2 to $4 per ton, according to the season. Sugar 
freights, at that time, from the north side of Cuba were 
from $5 to $7 a hogshead. Times have changed now; 
all the general freight going from Portland to Phila- 
delphia is being shipped by the wav of the New York 
steamers or Boston boats and forwarded b}- steamers to 
its destination. As the manufacturing plants increase 
the coal orders enlarge, and at this time it is more 
common to have a cargo of coal arrive here of 2,000 
tons than it was of 500 in 1872. The "Willard" was 
noted for her good sailing qualities ; and the first two 
years for the good dividends to her owners. I will give 
here a statement of her earnings as made up from her 
books b}^ Capt. B. F, Woodbury: 

Sailing from Bath September 18, 1872, her first 
dividend was declared October i6th, and amounted to 



172 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

$694.92; lier second, of $700, December 4tTi; her third, 
$879.54,011 March 3, 1873; fourth, $1,600, May 5th; 
fifth, $1,280, June 13th; sixth, $2,400, September iSth; 
seventh, $647.60, October nth — a total of $8,157.06. 

All bills for her construction and outfit were paid 
September 14, 1872, her cost being $23,985.82. 

The last dividend was paid November 30, 1876, 
and brought the total up to $20,525.22. She was then 
sold for $18,752.96, thus bringing to her owners, above 
cost, $15,292.36. 

The cost of running the vessel for the four j-ears 
and two months was $6,970.94. The total amount of 
freights earned was $76,605.94. 

In Januar}^, 1874, she went from Portland to 
Matanzas with freight which earned $1,195.11, and 
thence to Philadelphia with molasses at $4 a hogs- 
head, which brought $3,662.92; a total for the round 
trip of $4,858.03. This was made inside of two months 
from leaving Portland. 

How I Celebrated the Centennial. — July 4, 
1886, Portland's centennial celebration occurred, and it 
was a grand affair. There were in the harbor at the 
time five warships, the " Yantic," "Swatara," "Tennes- 
see," "Galena," and the French warship "Talisman." 
They were all trimmed with flags, as were the other 
vessels, and it was the grandest sight ever seen in 
Portland Harbor. The weather was perfect. At that 
time I was the harbor master, and I got an order to 
move the mud dredge out of the channel to give a 
clear course for a rowing regatta from Union Wharf to 
Fish Point and return. I got a bo}- in an express 
wagon to take me on Munjoy Hill to see Mr. Gerrish 
to have the dredge moved, which was promptl}^ done 
b}^ hauling it to the end of Franklin Wharf. 



WHY I LEFT OFF vSMOKING CiGARvS. 1 73 

In coming down the hill on my retnrn, and near 
the Portland Company office, the whiffletree dropped 
on the horse's heels and he ran away. The driver 
conld not control him, and when near Monntfort Street 
everything looked wild. I balanced myself, jumped 
over the forward wheel, and landed on the ground ; 
and when I struck it broke both bones of the left leg 
near the ankle and I rolled over against the fence of 
the Portland Company yard. My foot was numb, and 
I did not know the bones were broken until I started 
to get up. The first man I saw coming was Capt. Scott 
Oliver. He was soon followed by others, and I was 
taken home in a grocer}^ wagon near at hand. It was 
a hard celebration for me, and one that I shall never 
forget. 

My steamer " Fannie G." was engaged with a 
sloop lighter to visit the warships and get brass field- 
pieces with sailors to go in the procession. It was one 
of the finest parades ever in Portland. 

Why I Left Off Smoking Cigars. — In the 
3'ear 1888 I had a stroke of paralysis on the left side, 
caused by smoking cigars and getting my blood full of 
nicotine. While smoking I felt no ill effect and it 
never seemed to shake my nerves. I called Dr. H. P. 
Merrill. His advice was to stop smoking cigars, and 
that advice I have kept, and shall the rest of uiy life. 
He brought me out of it in a few da3's. At times my 
heart would beat hard, and I supposed that I had heart 
disease, as there were a great many dropping off with 
that trouble ; but after I stopped smoking I never had 
any more trouble with my heart. Now I would ad\ise 
my friends to take warning and not smoke too many 
cigars. Men with business on their minds will smoke 
a great many more cigars than they are aware of, and 
oftentimes thej- feel the bad effects when it is too late. 



174 CAPTAIN BRN'vS book. 

The "Fannie G." and Her Good Work.— The 
water boat, " Fannie G.," of which I have before spoken, 
proved excellent for her purpose, and did much good 
service, some in saving property as well as affording 
considerable pleasure to fishing parties. She was in 
pretty constant use, filling the light-house tanks at 
Half Way Rock and Seguin, serving warships in the 
harbor, and protecting the water front against fire. It 
might be tedious to give a detailed account of her work, 
but I will offer a specimen or two. February 6, 1890, 
she pumped sixteen and a half hours at the fire on 
Brown's Wharf, and at the same time saved the club- 
house on Merchants' Wharf; using the small number 
five Dean pump with which she had so often done val- 
uable service. In November of that same year she 
played on the Richardson Wharf fire, pumping two 
hours through two lines of hose with one-inch nozzles 
of the new number eight Dean pump, and rendering 
great aid. 

July 21, 1885, took a fishing party on the "Fannie 
G." We had luck and caught lots of good cod. 

July 2 2d took another party to Cod Ledge with 
the usual good luck. 

August 1 6th filled tank with water for one year's 
supply at Half Way Rock Light. 

July 17, 1S87, again filled the Half Wa^' Rock 
Light, and also the two warships, " Richmond " and 
"Yantic." 

August 6, 1888, again filled Half Way Rock Light. 

September 4th took out a fishing party, had fine 
luck, and got from five to six hundred pounds of fish. 

September loth carried a lot of voters from Cundy's 
Harbor to Harpswell and back. 

July 8, 18S9, again filled the Half Way Rock 



176 CAPTAIN BEn'vS book. 

Light, and pumped salt water to Seguin L-ight-house 
tlirougli 600 feet of hose and 136 feet rise, on the west 
side of the island. 

September 17th filled the Seguin Light-house tank 
with salt water, to run the whistle, through 1,800 feet 
of hose, from the harbor, 136 feet rise. This was done 
with a number five Dean pump, small size. 

February 6, 1890, the "Fannie G." pumped sixteen 
and a half hours for the cit}^, during the fire at Brown's 
Wharf, and at the same time saved the club-house at 
Merchants' Wharf, with this same small number five 
Dean pump. 

June 28th pumped out the schooner " Mathew Ken- 
ney," at Cundy's Harbor, and towed her to Portland. 

During July and August filled with water the 
United States warships " Kearsarge," " Petrel," and 
"Baltimore." At this time we had just put in the new 
large number eight Dean fire pump. 

November 26th the "Fannie G." was called to the 
Richardson Wharf fire, and pumped two hours, through 
two lines of hose with one-inch nozzles of the new 
number eight, the Dean pump doing good service. 

June 24, 1891, pumped out the schooner "(3. P. 
Lord," at Birch Island Ledge, and towed her back to 
Portland. 

June 30th pumped 10,000 gallons of fresh water and 
20,000 gallons of salt water, through 3,300 feet of hose, 
with about 140 feet rise, into the tank of the Ottawa 
House, Cushing's Island. A number eight Dean pump 
was used. It was a great surprise to the boarders. 

August 24th pumped out the 3'acht "\^iking," at 
Falmouth Foreside ; and also filled with water the 
United States warships "Chicago," "Atlanta," "York- 
town," "Boston," and "Concord." 



THE "FANNIE G." AND HER GOOD WORK. 177 

July 20, 1892, pumped out the schooner "A. H. 
Robinson," at Small Point, and towed her to Portland. 

September 2 7tli pumped out the Grand Trunk 
Railroad pontoon. 

August 31, 1S93, pumped out the schooner "Julia 
Baker," at Cape Elizabeth. 

November i8th pumped out the Portland Bridge 
pontoon. 

December 12th pumped out the "P. J. Hession's" 
scow, at Cape Elizabeth. 

August 23, 1894, went to Richmond Island, 
pumped out the "A. M. Bearing," and towed her to 
Portland in company with the tug " Demerrest," Capt. 
George Mathews. 

December 17th pumped on the bark "V. M. Hop- 
kins" some thirty-eight hours. 

December 29th pumped out the pontoon at the 
Ferry Slip, Portland Pier. 

The PuRvSuit of the Sunfish. — In July, 1893, 
she went out with the following part}' for deep-sea 
fishing: F. D. Rogers, George Thayer, Capt. H. E. 
Willard, Edward Keene, F. H. LittleJ H. A. Clay, and 
myself. We first went on the eastern part of Rock 
Cod Ledge, and not finding the cod-fish very plent}^ 
started for the western shoal. In steaming up, some 
of the party saw a black fin sticking up, and the boat 
was turned for it at once. It proved to be a large sun- 
fish. When near it I drove the harpoon at its head. 
The gristle in the head was so hard that the harpoon 
only entered about an inch, and as I put my weight on 
the staff the iron shank bent up. I could not get the 
harpoon in au}^ deeper. The fish sank when the line 
came taut, and the iron came out and we supposed that 
we should not see him again ; but to our surprise he 




y^^L/ 



SUNFISH, 6 FEET 5 INCHES LONG, 5 FEET DEEP; WEIGHT ABOUT 600 POU 



NDS. 



THE PURSUIT OF THE SUNFISH. 1 79 

came to the surface. We turned around and steamed 
for liim once more. This time I struck him well aft 
and the iron went half-way through him. After that 
we captured him easil}^, though it took all hands to 
haul him on deck. The rest of the day was spent in 
cod-fishing, on the western shoal of Cod Ledge, and 
we caught all the cod that we wanted. On returning 
home we tied a rope to the sunfish and left him at the 
Forest City Landing, Peaks Island, so the boarders 
and visitors could see him. 

Several species of this odd-looking fish have been 
captured in British waters, and in almost every case 
the creature was swimming, or rather floating, in so 
lazy a fashion that it permitted itself to be taken with- 
out attempting to escape. In the seas where this fish 
is generally found, the harpoon is usuall}^ used for 
its capture; not so much on account of its strength, 
though a large specimen will sometimes struggle with 
amazing force and fur}-, but on account of its great 
weight, which renders its conveyance into a boat a 
matter of some little difficulty. 

The flesh of the sunfish is white, well flavored, 
and in much request among sailors, who always luxu- 
riate in fresh meat after the monotony of salted pro- 
visions. In flavor and aspect it somewhat resembles 
the skate. Its liver is rather large and yields a large 
amount of oil, which is prized by the sailors as an 
infallible remedy for sprains, burns, bruises, and rheu- 
matic affections. One of its most curious peculiarities 
is the structure of the eyes, which are bedded in a 
mass of very soft and flexible folds belonging to the 
outer membranous coat, and resting behind on a sack 
filled with a gelatinous fluid. When the creature is 
alarmed it draws the e3'e back against the sack of fluid, 



l8o CAPTAIN ben's book. 

which is thus forced into the folds of skin. They dis- 
tend so largely as nearl}^ to conceal the entire organ 
behind them. When swimming quietly along and 
suffered to be undisturbed, it generall}' remains so 
near the surface that its elevated dorsal fin projects 
above the water. Only in warm, calm weather is it 
seen in this attitude. During a stormy season it 
remains near the bed of the sea, and contents itself 
with feeding on the sea-weeds which grow so luxuri- 
antly at the bottom of the shallower ocean waters. 
The color of the sunlish is grayish brown, darker upon 
the back than on the sides of the abdomen. The skin 
is hard and rough. The fish often attains a ver}^ great 
size. One that was harpooned on the equator meas- 
ured six feet in length, 

October 3, 1893, the following party went in the 
"Fannie G." : W. S. Eaton, F. D. Rogers, George 
Thayer, Joseph F. Fowler, F. H. Little, Mr. Haines, 
Mr. Bright, Mr. Pike, Mr. A. G. Sawyer, and myself. 
We had good sport and got a fine lot of game. The 
same party were out on several fishing trips with me, 
and we always had good luck. The fresh lobsters on 
board were a big luxury and highly enjoyed by us all, 



CHAPTER XX. 

THK FIRST iOW-P.OAT IN PORTLAND. CHANGED CONDITIONS OF 

OCEAN TRAFFIC. IHE BLUE SHARK AND HIS PURSUIT. WM.D 

GEESE SHOOTINC;. A NOTABLE SWORD-FISH PARTY. THE FIRST 

PRIZE IN NINE YEARS. LAST DEEP-SEA-FISHING TRIP FOR 

THE SEASON. 

^pHE first tow-boat owned in Portland was the 
"Tiger," built in Philadelphia, for my brother 
William, in 185 1. She commenced towing in this har- 
bor in November of that year. The first month was a 
busy one for him. During that time he towed two 
ships out of the Kennebunk River, and one out of the 
Saco. As the Cuba trade was flourishing then, the 
towing business was quite brisk. He was often called 
to Yarmouth, Freeport, and Brunswick to tow ships 
from their launching ways to this cit}", where thej^ 
would complete their outfits for sea and sail for a 
Southern port to load cotton for the European market. 
Before the "Tiger" arrived here the vessels in Avant of 
a tow-boat had to send to Bath or Boston, and the 
"Tiger" received a welcome greeting by the ship- 
builders about Casco Ba3\ 

At that time there were some fifteen or twenty 
ship-yards between Capes Elizabeth and Small Point. 
When the "Tiger" was built there were very few pro- 
peller tow-boats. Side-Avheel tow-boats did this work 
then at New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. They 
are things of the past now, though a few are used for 
North River towing in shallow water. Times have 
changed. Not one ship is building from Cape Cod to 



BLUE SHARK. I 83 

Kastport. Three four-mast schooners and a steamer are 
building in Bath for the coasting trade, but nothing for 
the foreign. As the manufacturing business increases 
so does the coasting trade. We have a large fleet of 
coasting vessels emploj-ed principally in the ice, coal, 
phosphate rock, and hard pine trade. Steamers do all 
the general merchandise freighting. The towing busi- 
ness has increased so that four tow-boats and three 
water boats find employment in our harbor. 

Wooden ships have gone out of date. Steel and 
iron steamers of European nations are doing most of 
the foreign freighting business. They have been built 
by subsidies; their government paying liberally what 
is called mail aid. In 1893 the five great Maritime 
Powers of Europe, England, France, Germany, Russia, 
and Ital}', paid $16,657,865 for the transportation of 
their mails by sea. This not only builds their mail 
ships, but at the same time the subsidized companies 
have large fleets of the so-called tramp steamers, or 
freight ships, running in connection with their mail 
ships. Several of these lines have eighty to ninety 
steamers owned by each companj'. During the winter 
season, when the St. Lawrence River is closed by ice, 
the Allan and Dominion lines of steamers do a large 
freighting business to England and Scotland, taking 
freight from the Grand Trunk Railroad brought from 
all parts of Canada and the Western States. 

Blue Shark. — The blue shark, which I have 
before mentioned, are the most common here and are 
seen in ver^- large numbers on our coast in the sum- 
mer. They are of a fine slaty-blue color on the back, 
and white on the bell}^, and are from three to fifteen 
feet long. They are the fishermen's most deadl}^ 
enemy, cutting their nets to pieces and devouring their 



184 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

fish. Eight or nine of these monsters have been taken 
in one day. In the foreground of the engraving on 
page 96 is introduced the skull of a large shark for 
the purpose of showing the terrible teeth with which 
it is armed, and which lie in several reserve rows readj^ 
to take the place of those which are broken or cast off 
when their work is done. From these teeth, which cut 
like broken glass, the natives of manj^ savage lands 
make tools and weapons of war b}^ fixing them into 
wooden handles. 

A friend of mine was once fishing after a large 
shark which was following the vessel. After a little 
time he succeeded in inducing him to take hold of the 
great hook which was fastened on the end of a large 
chain and nicel}^ baited with a big, fat piece of pork of 
which these fish are very fond. Too sudden a jerk was 
given the hook, however, and it pulled through the 
cheek, which made a terrible cut and bled profusel3^ 
But the shark did not seem to mind that, for he kept 
right close up to the bait, which after a short time he 
finally seized and was drawn on board. 

Shooting Wild GeEvSK at High PreSvSure. — 
In the spring of 1894, about the last of March, wild 
geese were reported very plentiful in Casco Bav. I 
got Mr. John F. Randall and Mr. J. N. Alartin and 
steamed down the bay in the " Fannie G." We saw 
plent}' of them feeding on the mussel beds. The water 
being shoal we could not get near them. We found 
that some had alighted in the bay, and so got to the 
windward and steamed towards them. The}- flew out 
of the water a long distance ahead and avc got one of 
them. A day or two later Mr. Randall, his son, and 
mj^self went down the bay and got three more. We 
found that our steam from high pressure frightened 




.}).}>; "'" 



/;' 'T 






Peaks Iskawd IS^^/_ 




'Vv^f-,-.vji<;;.y ^"^ '--^ 



l86 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

tliem before we could get in shooting distance. Since 
that time I have put low pressure in the boat so to 
steam on to them without any noise. 

The First Sword-Fish in Nine Years. — 
August I, 1894, I started for a deep-sea-iishing trip in 
the "Fannie G." with the following party: W. J. 
Spicer, general manager of the Grand Trunk Com- 
ipany; W. A. Spicer, Charles Spicer, Errol Spicer, 
Herbert Spicer, all from Detroit; Doctor Alloway, of 
Montreal; Mr. Da^^, consul at Washington, D. C. ; 
Rev. James Hast}^, of Cornwall, Ontario; Capt. B. F. 
Woodbury, William Taylor, J. F. Randall, Joseph F. 
Fowler, George Thayer, of the Maine Central, Capt. 
H. E. Willard, and F. H. Little. 

The party was prepared to catch anything from a 
whale to a mackerel. If ^^ou have never caught a 
sword-fish you do not know what fun and excitement 
are connected with the sport. The boat left the Grand 
Trunk Wharf at eight o'clock in the morning and 
proceeded to Peaks Island to get Captain Woodbury 
and friends. From there they went to Cushing's 
Island to get Mr. Spicer and his compan3\ From 
Cushing's the steamer went over to Cape Cottage for a 
supply of fresh lobsters previously arranged for. We 
then put to sea. 

About an hour was spent in fishing for cod on 
Rock Cod Ledge. In that short time over sixty cod 
were caught, some of them weighing twelve pounds. 
But that was not what the part}^ was after; and with 
visions of sword-fish still before their eyes, the fun of 
fishing for cod seemed extremel}' tame. Beyond the 
ledge for a distance of eighteen or twenty miles to sea 
the little steamer went. The day was all that could 
be asked for. The water was smooth and calm, and 



THE FIRST SWORD-FISH IN NINE YEARS. 187 

the most sensitive ladies could have taken the trip so 
far as an}^ danger from seasickness was concerned. 
Three hours after starting a shark was sighted. He 
was about seven feet long, and there was some desire 
to tr}^ to land him; but that desire was short-lived, for 
in a few moments a sword-fish was seen showing a 
back fin and tip of tail. Then the excitement ran 
high. Everybody was alive to observe the movements 
of the fish and the preparations for his capture. The 
steamer had been fitted to steam noiselessly on to the 
fish with low pressure, and so the game was not fright- 
ened by a noisy approach of the vessel. Captain W. 
took a position in the pulpit that Captain Peterson had 
built on purpose and stood with harpoon in hand till 
an advantageous position was reached. Then swish 
through the air the harpoon went, striking the big 
fish and burying itself some fifteen inches in his flesh. 
Rapidly the line was paid out to the length of one 
hundred fathoms or more, and a half-barrel thrown 
overboard with the line attached. Mr. Randall invited 
Mr. Fowler to sail on the half-barrel and watch the per- 
formance of the prisoner ; but that gentleman declined, 
and so Mr. Sword-fish was allowed to hustle all by 
himself. In forty-five minutes the fish was on board. 
When he came up to the boat he made a struggle to 
get a^va}^, but Captain W. sent a second harpoon into 
him and that settled his fate. Mr. Randall made good 
use of the gaff and Captain Peterson got a tail rope on 
to the fish and another line around him for a parbuckle 
to roll him on board. Mr. Spicer and others had a 
hand on the upper deck and shortly the big fish was 
rolled on board, much to the delight of everybod}-. 

This was the first sword-fish that "Captain Ben" 
had caught for nine 3'ears; and so the first thing to do 



1 88 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

when the capture was made and the excitement over 
was to ask Mr. Fowler to get the sarsaparilla so that 
he could take a good drink. Mr. Fowler suggested a 
pop cocktail, which used to be a favorite drink of the 
captain's; and then something stronger was offered, 
but the captain declined. 

Everybody partook of the hot coffee and steamed 
fresh lobsters, and the boat again got under waj- for 
another sword-fish. At 1.30, when heading for Boon 
Island, the outlook saw another sword-fish and Captain 
W. sent the harpoon after him. When the steamer 
came around it left the fish on the port side, and the 
chances of striking fair with the harpoon were much 
lessened. The steel struck the fish a few inches higher 
than was at first intended, striking against the back- 
bone so that when the line became taut the harpoon 
drew out and the fish drifted away to die and be eaten 
b}' the dogfish. Three hours more were spent in look- 
ing for fish, but with no good result. The boat got 
back at 5.45 p.ini., all hands well pleased with the day's 
sport. The fish caugiit was twelve feet long and 
weighed two hundred and fifty pounds. The sword 
was three feet long and the tail three feet wide. The 
one lost was about seventeen feet long with a large 
body. It might weigh about five hundred pounds. 

Last Trip op^ the Season. — August 17, 1894, I 
took my last deep-sea-fishing trip for the season with 
the following gentlemen : Mr. W. S. Eaton, F. D. 
Rogers, F. H. Little, B. F. Woodbury, George Thayer, 
K. D. Awtood, H. E. Willard,and William M. Leighton. 
The day was fine. We left Portland at eight o'clock in 
the morning. When near Portland Head we came to 
a fisherman and got all the fresh lobsters that we 
wished. Then we steamed for Rock Cod Ledge, stop- 



LAST TRIP OF THE .SEASON. 189 

ping there something over an hour. We got sixty 
nice cod-fish; Mr. Eaton catching the largest one, 
about thirteen pounds in weight. While there fishing 
a school of mackerel came up and we caught thirt3^ 
We then steamed eighteen or twenty miles to sea look- 
ing for sword-fish. We steamed some sixty-five miles 
in all, but saw none. They had probably left the coast. 
We arrived home about six o'clock in the evening, 
after having a fine sail and nice sport. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

TRANSIT BETWEEN THE CAPE AND PORTLAND. THE FAMOUS FERRY 

FIGHT. A STORMY TOWN-MEETING. THE DINNER THAT COST 

FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS A PLATE. CAPE ELIZABETH ELECTRICS. 

THE ISLAND TRAFFIC AND THE CASCO BAY STEAMBOAT COM- 
PANY. PORPOISES. 

n^HE ferry between Portland and Cape Elizabeth has 
given rise to both litigation and legislation, and is 
still a much discussed topic. 

At ni}^ first coming from the Cape to Portland 
Captain Stanford ran a sail boat. I remember well the 
foresail — braided up. The boat was a large yawl and 
a safe one, and the captain a prudent man. He built 
a walk way from high water to low water, and could 
often be seen carrying a bucket of sand to sprinkle 
upon it to make the footing of his passengers surer. 

This 3^awl was succeeded by a double-end ferry- 
boat named the " Elizabeth." At the time there was 
considerable ship-building, a chain factory was run- 
ning, and a box mill in operation ; so that the number 
of passengers was considerable. I understand that the 
"Elizabeth" paid fair dividends until Portland Bridge 
became free. Then she ceased to be profitable and the 
enterprise died. The "Elizabeth" was succeeded, after 
a brief experience with sail boats, b\^ another double= 
ender, the "Little Eastern," and she died, too, in a 
short time. 

Then still another double-ender, the " H. H. Day," 
was put on the ferry with sail l)oats running between 
times. After running for a while and failing to pa}- 



TRANvSiT BETWEEN THE CAPE AND PORTLAND. 191 

she was taken off. The town of Cape Elizabeth, I 
believe, helped to support her. On one of her trips 
from the Cape side on which I was a passenger, when 
half-way over to the city — the wind being heavy west 
northwest — the steam began to run down because of 
leaking tubes, putting the fire nearl}^ out in the fire- 
box, and she went to leeward fast, toward the breakers 
near the Breakwater. The captain saw a coaster Ijnng 
at anchor, made for her, with the intention of getting 
a line fast, having a man ready with a rope with an 
eye-splice in it. When we bumped up against the 
coaster he jumped on board and put the rope on the 
windlass bit. At the same time the captain of the 
schooner came on deck bare-headed. To saj^ that he 
was mad would be to put it mildly. He jumped down 
over the deck load to heave off the line, but there was 
too much strain on it. The captain of the double-ender 
partially pacified him b}- saying that he would keep 
the wheels going ahead. The coaster had both anchors 
ahead by this time. If the chains had parted both 
vessels would have gone ashore in the breakers, and I 
do not know what would have become of us, as there 
was no life-saving crew stationed on the Cape at that 
time. I had sujDposed the double-ender had anchors, 
but saw none, and no preparations were made to get 
any either. 

After another siege with sail boats, steam was 
again brought into rec|uisition. Randall & IMcAllister 
bought the steamer "Josephine Hoey" to run as a 
ferrj^-boat and I unfortunatel}- became a quarter owner. 
While she was running there came a northeast snow- 
storm and washed away the landing at the Cape. 
About six o'clock in the evening the ladies and gentle- 
men came down to go across as usual. I told them 



192 CAPTAIN BEN'vS book. 

there was no landing and we could not run the boat, 
but I would take them to their destination safely, 
though it would have to be an overland trip. The 
company furnished hacks and took them over free of 
charge. I remember the night well, as I sat on the 
box with the driver, holding a lantern that we might 
find the way. We made two trips. When the last 
man got out of the hack he thought he ought to have 
ten cents for a drink, the drive had made him so dry. 

Some time later the steamer "Mary W. Libby" 
was built to run in the winter and used in the summer 
for pleasure parties. 

The Ferry Fight. — In the winter of 1885 what 
is known as "the ferry fight" — into the particulars of 
which I need not go — began, and mau}^ of us were 
called before the committee of interior waters to testify. 

During the hearing my friend Mr. D stated that 

the "Josephine Hoey " was a "thin skin" boat, and he 
did not think she was safe to carry passengers across 
Fore River. Had he known her history he might have 
thought otherwise. The boat was brought here from 
New York by my brother Charles and R. W. Richer, 
engineer, one storni}^ January. In rounding Cape Cod, 
between Chatham and Noset, she ran into a northeast 
snow-storm, blowing up a strong gale. In this blind- 
ing storm the boat made her way round the highland 
of the Cape, by Peaked Hill Bar and Race Point, 
found her way into Provincetown Harbor by use of the 
sounding lead, and anchored there about six o'clock in 
the morning. Some fishermen came down to the wharf 
and asked where she was from and of, and my brother 
told them from New York. " Did you come round the 
Cape last night? " thej^ queried with astonishment. 
On his affirmative reply they informed him that two 



THE FERRY FIGHT. I93 

wrecks went ashore back of the highland and one on 
Peaked Hill Bar that night. That shows what a 
"thin skin" boat can do. 

At the March meeting at the town-house, Cape 
Elizabeth, I invited my friend, C. W. T. Coding, to 
ride over with me to look on. Being a tax payer in 
that town, I supposed I had a right to go there, not to 
vote but to look on. PVom the time we arrived until 
we left we both were grossly insulted. I began to 
think we were among the "IMafias" of New Orleans. 
I had been a voter in Ward Two, Portland, for several 
years and had seen some rough times election days; 
but the election at Cape Elizabeth that year was far 
ahead of anything I ever saw. In the hands of Mr. 
Nutter was a document from our company to be read 
to the meeting. It was not allowed to be read. Had 
it been read and accepted the town would have been in 
pocket to-day $25,000, or the war debt might have been 
reduced that much. I am sorry to learn that the war 
debt still stands on the town books. 

Eater on our company received notice from the 
selectmen of the town to vacate the old landing in 
thirty days. We secured a temporary landing on the 
east side of Merchants' Marine Railway Wharf. I 
called on my friends to lease or buy a landing; but 
none was to be had. Eater on our company found that 
Mr. Ralph Butler, of Boston, owned the fiats at the 
east of Railwa}^ Wharf and we leased them of him for 
a term of years. Our company called on the harbor 
commissioners to lay out and build a wharf into tide 
water. To run our wharf straight it was found neces- 
sary to take a few feet on IMr. W^illiam Spear's prop- 
erty. ]\Ir. Curtis and myself called on Mr. Spear to 



194 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

purchase a few feet of tlie flats; but lie was very high 
in his figures so the company decided to put a bend in 
the wharf, in order to go around his land and save liti- 
gation. Then the wharf was extended into the water, 
giving seventj'-five feet dockage between our wharf 
and Merchants' Marine Wharf. The wharf and ferry- 
house were built and the mud dredged out. We had a 
good, safe landing. June 4th of that year the double- 
end ferry-boat "Cornelia H." arrived from Bath and 
soon went on the route. She was a large and safe 
boat, but too good for the route. If Uncle Sam had 
known her butting qualities he would have given a 
large price for her to send out to Hayti instead of his 
gunboats, as she could have butted it all down in two 
hours. This ferr3^-boat ran about eight years. Then 
it changed hands and the new company built and put 
on the route the "Elizabeth City," now running. 

There was lots of fun in the ferr}- fight, but no 
dividends. 

I am glad to state the noted ten-year ferry fight 
came to a close April i, 1895, by the Portland and 
Cape Elizabeth Ferr}^ Company selling its franchise 
and ferry property to the People's Ferr}' Compau}-. 
During the fight the Portland and Cape Elizabeth and 
People's Ferry Companies have taken out of their 
pockets about $130,000. This has been a ver}- large 
elephant — much larger than Jumbo. Probably in the 
future one company will run the business. 

The Broomstick Train. I understand there is 
a compau}^ formed and about to get a charter to run 
an electric railroad through Cape Elizabeth b}^ goiiig 
over Portland Bridge, through Knightville, South Port- 
land, Willard, and then over the shore road to the 



THE ISLAND vSTEAMERS. 195 

Cape Lights. I think this is a move in the right 
direction. In two or three years it will bnild up the 
place and improve all property more than all the 
double-end ferry-boats have ever done from the days of 
the "Elizabeth" to those of the "Elizabeth City." If 
this road had been built after the big fire in Portland, 
in 1 866, the Cape to-day would have a mayor as well 
as Deering. I wish to see the Cape built up. 

A Five-Hundred-Dollar Dinner. — One day 
Mr. C. A. Tilton called at my office on Commercial 
Street to get subscribers for stock in the plush mill at 
South Portland. Though he fought us hard in the 
ferry fight we had no hard feelings towards him, but 
talked and laughed over the matter. Mr. John Curtis 
took five shares and I five. I don't consider it was all 
lost, as I got more out of it than some of my friends, 
and that was a good supper at the mill, which only 
cost $500 a plate. 

The Island Steamers. — I wish to saj^ a few 
words about the island steamers, a subject which inter- 
ests all Portlanders. January 9, 1878, I bought into 
the Peaks Island Steamboat Company fifty shares. 
At this time Mr. F. H. Morse was President and 
George Trefethen, Treasurer. There wxre two steam- 
ers on the line, the "Express" and the "Gazelle." 
After a time the company became the Forest City 
Steamboat Company. The steamer "Gazelle" was 
lengthened and rebuilt, and her name changed to 
the "Forest City." Some time later Capt. Howard 
Knowlton built the little steamer " Minnehaha," which 
afterwards was taken into the company and Captain 
Knowlton made general manager. Then the Union 



196 CAPTAIN BEN'vS book. 

Steamboat Company was started as an opposition line 
to the Forest City Company. Their first boat was the 
"Bmita," and their second, the "Cadet." Some time 
later the Union line changed to the Star Line Steam- 
boat Company. At this time I was general manager 
for the Forest City Company. The Star line, after 
running two or three years, consolidated with the 
Forest City Company. The name was changed to the 
Casco Bay Steamboat Company' and ]\Ir. C. W. T. 
Coding elected general manager. 

July, 1887, the company put on a new steamer, 
called the " Forest Queen." She is a large, safe boat 
and is run the year round. The steamers " Minne- 
haha" and "Express" were sold. January, 1884, the 
large skating rink and the pavilion were built at Peaks 
Island. A large gasoline plant was put into the rink, 
and later it was lighted by electricity and furnished 
power and light for all the amusement buildings and 
wharves. The Casco Bay Steamboat Company has 
done as much or more than any company in advertising 
Casco Bay as a summer resort by running amusements 
and getting up novel attractions such as marine carni- 
vals, marine explosions, balloon ascensions, and walk- 
ing on the waves. These attractions bring thousands 
of people to the islands and make it interesting for the 
boarders at the different hotels ; so much so that the 
demand is considerably in excess of the accommodation. 

The company have done good service by running 
boats often and at low rates and have built up the 
island largely in the last few years. 

In the summer of 1894 the steamer "Jeanette" 
was put on the route as an opposition boat and run for 
five cents fare by parties interested in the ferr}^ fight. 




CAPT. B. J. WILLARD TRAP SHOOTING, JUNE, 1895. 



198 CAPTAIN ben's book. 

PoRPOiSEvS. — Upon the opposite page is a picture 
of a shoal of porpoises, — a fine sight often seen in 
mild weather along our coast from Florida to New- 
foundland, and near the northern edge of the Gulf 
Stream, where the warm water at a temperature of 
from 72 to 78 suddenly changes in going one or two 
miles down to 67 or 57 degrees. Here in this cool 
water for miles the water appears to be alive with 
porpoises, as seen in the picture. The meat of the 
porpoise is not very palatable, though the liver fried in 
pork fat is a very dainty dish, especially after living 
on salt beef for some time. So the capture of a por- 
poise puts a broad grin on an old sailor's countenance, 
as he is then sure of a dainty morsel. A shoal of 
porpoises moves in a military order excepting when 
frightened. They swim from five to ten miles an hour ; 
springing out of the water in a crescent shape, their 
tails seldom leaving the water. They are a fine sight 
from a vessel's mast-head as they skim along just 
under water. Old sailors call them puf&ng pigs. Their 
puffing is as loud as a man's voice and is very inter- 
esting to any one not used to hearing or seeing them, 
as large shoals of them make a continual puff, puff, as 
though run by machinery. 



At this point, in my sixty-seventh year, I bring 
these recollections of a busy and somewhat adventur- 
ous life to a close, hoping that the reader ma}^ find as 
much entertainment in taking them up as I have found 
in setting them down; for it has been a pleasure to me 
to recall the happenings — some of them stirring, and 
none without interest — of the years covered b}^ this 
volume; and I am persuaded that the pleasure will be 



200 • CAPTAIN ben's BOOK. 

shared by many an old friend and neighbor and many 
an acquaintance. It may be, too, that strangers who 
live far from the sea will find in this plain story of life 
on the Atlantic coast, and of adventure on an element 
with which they are unfamiliar, something to strike 
their fancy or appeal to their sympathies. 

So in conclusion I say " good-by," — two words 
which mean, scholars tell us, " God be with you." 



ADDENDUM, 



"^J^HE family of Willard of Eastbourne, Sussex, Eng- 
land, surnamed Villard and originating from Caen, 
Normandy, has been seated in Sussex since the time 
of Edward III. A younger branch settled later in the 
southwesterly part of Kent, within a few miles of the 
borders of Sussex, and held an estate in the Hundred 
of Branchley and Horsmonden. There lived and died 
(in 1617) Richard Willard, father of Capt. Simon 
Willard, the colonist, who came over from Horsmonden 
to Boston in 1634 with wife and children. He settled 
at Cambridge, Mass., and is known to have been pos- 
sessed of ample means. He was later one of the 
founders of Concord and was for thirtj'-live 3'ears a 
member of the General Court of the Colon}'. He made 
use of the arms gi\'en on the cover, which is copied 
from the American Heraldic Historical Rooms. 

Horsmonden. — In the southwesterly part of Kent, 
within a few miles of the borders of Sussex, in the 
Hundred of Branchley and Horsmonden, in the lath 
of Aylesford, lies the quiet and retired parish of Hors- 
monden. It is forty miles southeast from London, in 
a rural, agricultural district, situate on no great 
thoroughfare and possessing no factitious or local 
advantages for progress in population and wealth. As 
villages of this class alter but little from centur}- to 
centur}' in our mother-land, a description of the present 
appearance of Horsmonden will probably give a pretty 
correct idea of its aspect at the beginning of the seven- 



s h ''" % yv " 




HORSMONDEN. 203 

teentli century. A descendant of Simon Willard in 
the seventh generation visited the ancestral home in 
the summer of 1850. He may be the first of all the 
descendants after the second generation who has 
enjoyed this privilege. Indeed, we may be reasonably 
well assured of the fact when we state that the partic- 
ular parish in Kent, the birth-place of Simon Willard, 
has long ago passed from the memory of his American 
descendants through some unaccountable negligence, 
and the genealogy was only retraced as lately as the 
year 1845 after industrious and persevering inquiry. 
From the interesting sketch of Horsmonden, which 
this gentleman has given, I make the following ex- 
tracts, copied from the Willard Memoir by Joseph 
Willard, Esq. : 

"The church is two miles distant from the village 
and quite on one side of the parish. It is a venerable 
and rather neat Gothic edifice of stone. Its age is not 
known, but the rector supposes from the style of archi- 
tecture that it is about five hundred years old. It is 
with certainty the church in which young Simon Wil- 
lard was baptized, and it was with much interest that 
I read in the parchment register of that church, in old 
English characters, the record of his baptism. Just 
at the entrance, in the floor of the principal aisle, is a 
tablet to the dead bearing the date of 1587 ; and over 
that stone Simon was, doubtless, borne to his baptism. 

" Near the church is a most magnificent oak tree, 
of which the men of Horsmonden are justly proud. 
The trunk is thirty feet in circumference at the roots 
and retains a circumference of nearly twenty feet 
almost to the branches. I was told at the rectory that 
it is known to be at least three hundred years old, and 
how much older is not known. Our ancestor in his 



204 CAPTAIN BEn'vS BOOK. 

boyhood doubtless looked upon it often and probably 
sat under its shade. Simon Willard, the subject of 
this sketch, was born at Horsmonden, probably in the 
early part of the year of 1605, and was baptized in the 
church at that place April 5, 1605. The record of his 
baptismal consecration, as recorded in the parish reg- 
ister and on a preceding page, runs thus wise : 

"A. D. 1605. Anno E. R. Jacop.i. 

"The vijth clay of April Simon Willard come of Richard Willard 

was christened. 

" Edward Alchine, Rector. 

" Major Simon Willard died in Charlestown, Mass., 
April 24, 1676, in the seventy-second year of his age. 
The father, Richard Willard, died in February, 1616. 
He had ten children, seven of whom survived him. 
His third wife died on the 25th of February of the 
same year." 



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